Angel in a Blender
by hergoldeneyes
Summary: The Cullens are ready to restart their high school lives; this time, with an added member along for the ride. Jasmine is still adjusting to her vampire family, and her werewolf boyfriend just adds to the excitement. No matter what happens, she can't stay young forever, and no amount of vampire venom can stop life from throwing itself in her path. Sequel to Jasmine Isabella Cullen
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own Twilight or any of the songs that I claim Jasmine wrote… I'm really not that creative xD Credit for the song in this chapter goes to the band _Flyleaf_.**

* * *

Six more weeks, I reminded myself as I walked down the hallway of La Push High, just six more weeks of this purgatory.

I'd been so excited about starting high school last year. But that was because I'd never been in one. My teachers were annoying, homework came in boatloads, I had my fair share of enemies, and my fair share of unwelcome fans. Along with this, though, I had the best family in the world, my one and only love, and friends sent straight down from heaven. And somehow, throughout all this high school drama, I managed to keep all my relationships strong and my grades up. I was no valedictorian—oh no, that was Jade—but I was pretty close to a perfect four-point-oh. Stupid history…

"Jasmine!" Ali called, waving her hand to make herself visible in the crowd of students. Her brown hair bounced as she hurried over to me with a brown history book, binder, and several spiral notebooks in her hands. "Ready for class?"

"I just need to get my books," I said, opening the door to my locker and pulling out the books I needed for next period. "We better get going. Ms. Lopez is going to blow her top if I'm late again." Ms. Lopez was my history teacher. A mean lady in her early fifties who hated tardy students. And I, who had been late four times that week already, could not afford another demerit. But was it really my fault? I wouldn't have been late so many times if stupid Embry didn't—

"Let's go, then!" Ali exclaimed, taking hold of my hand and pulling me forward. "Jade said she'd meet us at the door."

I sighed. Ali and Jade were my best friends. I told them everything. Well, almost everything, anyway. I told them what I was allowed to tell them. For example, they had no clue that I was adopted into a family of vegetarian vampires, but they knew almost everything else. Jade and my friendship had gotten really strong over the course of my two years here. Ali was a new student here as well who we took a strong liking to. Her boyfriend, Max, was really nice and he was gladly accepted into our small circle of friends. The three of them sat with us at lunch, us being the Cullens, Jacob, Leah, Seth, and me.

"Jasmine," a voice sighed from behind me. Oh great. Just great. Here was one of my unwelcome fans. I turned around reluctantly with a forced smile on my face.

"Hey, Embry," I murmured through clenched teeth.

"Hey," he gave me a one armed hug and stepped back. "You look more beautiful everyday."

"Thanks," I murmured, looking down at my black ballet flats and jeans.

"Listen," he started. Ugh. Here it came, his daily offer, "if you're not doing anything later, I was thinking maybe we could go catch a movie."

And here came my daily response. "Can't. Seth and I have plans."

"Maybe some other day, then?" he asked hopefully. I didn't get how it was possible that he didn't get the message. I don't want to go out with him and I never will. Embry was a nice guy and all; I just didn't like him like that.

"Maybe," I said, hiding my annoyance. with the mask I'd been carefully piecing together since my first day here. The bell rang announcing the remaining five minutes to get to class. "I have to get to class," I said, making my escape. "I'll see you later."

"I'll call you," he called after me as I rushed after Ali. I was far enough away for him to think I maybe hadn't heard him. Of course, he would call me later, he always did. Alice had given him my phone number as a prank sometime last year, but the joke was on her, because he called every two hours of almost every day and she was starting to get fed up with it. Oh well, her idea, she gets to suffer along with me.

I slid into my seat in history class between Jade and Ali, in front of Alice, and behind Edward just seconds before the bell rang again, declaring the start of the fourth period classes.

"Why were you late _this_ time?" Jade whispered to me.

"Embry," Ali, Edward, Alice, and I answered at once.

"Of course," she mumbled. "That guy needs to leave you alone."

I plopped my books onto my desk before I answered her question. "He's sweet," I said, "but annoying."

"Hello, everyone. My name is Mrs. Faine," a short woman that seemed to be in her late thirties or early forties said as she walked into the classroom. This wasn't Ms. Lopez. "Your teacher, Ms. Lopez, is out for the day. Open your history books to page two ten and start copying through page two fifty."

The entire class groaned with annoyance, but pulled out paper and a pencil to start copying from the text book. I passed three sheets of lined paper back to Alice because she used all of hers for drawing, to Edward because Emmett had used his last pieces this morning in an improvised "snowball" fight, to Ali because she never had any, and to Jade because she was too lazy to reach into her binder and get her own. I put two sheets on the desk in front of me and started copying the information.

Soon enough, my mind wandered away from the words in front of me and I started thinking about the music program that I was very active in here at La Push High. The second I'd shown the slightest interest in music, Alice had gone out and bought me a purple electric guitar saying I'd need it later. I'd started writing songs which I then preceded to play and sing. Yeah, shocker. Seth always compared my voice to that of an angel, but I thought I sounded more like an angel in a blender.

"Exotic and beautiful all the same," he'd said when I'd told him.

Something hit my neck at that moment and landed in the hood of my turquoise sweater. I reached back and found a piece of folded paper. On one side were beautiful drawing of flowers and on the other was a note written in Alice's handwriting.

_Do your work and stop writing down lyrics!_ the note instructed. I turned a bit and saw Alice giving me a stern look and tapping the eraser of her pencil on her history book. I rolled my eyes and turned to face my desk. In front of me was a piece of paper, half full of words copied from the text book and half filled with music notes, random drawings of hearts and the seashell that still hung around my neck, and chorus to a song I had finished writing the night before. I picked up my paper and read the words.

_Sick of circling the same road  
Sick of bearing the guilt  
So open the windows to cool off  
And heat pours in instead  
Perfect in weakness  
I'm only perfect in just your strength alone  
All my efforts to clean me  
Leave me putrid and filthy  
And how can you look at me  
When I can't stand myself  
I'm tired to be honest  
I'm nobody  
__Perfect in weakn_

I added the final 'ess' I'd meant to write before Alice had thrown the paper at me. I took one last look before I erased the entire thing and went back to copying from the book. After writing two sentences, I looked up at the clock. Twenty minutes left until lunch. Could the time tick by any slower? As if just to annoy me, the red hand stopped moving altogether. Noticing the absence of the ticking sound, Mrs. Faine smacked it with a ruler that was lying on the desk.

"Stupid clock," she murmured and went back to reading her edition of _Elle Magazine_ with her feet propped up on the desk. I heard Alice stifle a giggle behind me and Edward chuckle in front of me. No one else in the class, however, seemed to notice.

The remainder of class went by uneventfully. I'd gotten to page two forty-seven when the bell rang. I stuffed the used papers into my binder. I lifted all my things into my arms and dropped them once. I was bending down to pick them up but Alice already had and was stuffing them inside my bag with the two plaid cherries that I had forgotten in her car this morning.

"I knew you'd need it," she said with a smile as she slung it over my shoulder.

"Thanks, Alice," I said.

"Jasmine, Alice," Edward called from the door, "hurry up."

"We're coming, we're coming," Alice said as we made our way through the rows of desks to get outside the classroom. Edward, Ali, Jade, Max, and Seth were there waiting.

"How was history?" Seth asked.

I lifted my sore, red hand. "Painful," I murmured.

"Were you late again?"

"Sort of."

"Embry?" he guessed.

"Yes," I groaned.

Seth chuckled. I was envious of the way he could look at the situation in such good humor when I could barely keep myself from screaming in annoyance. He took my right hand in his as we walked.

"Did Ms. Lopez give you another demerit?" he asked.

"No," I said. "She wasn't there today."

"She wasn't?" Seth asked. "That's weird. As far as I know, that woman hasn't missed a day since she started working here."

"Maybe she got sick," Jade volunteered.

"I doubt it," Ali scoffed. "That woman's immune system is stronger than an elephant's."

"That's probably true," Edward said. "I wonder what she's out for…" I shrugged. He'd probably tell us later, anyway.

We walked into the cafeteria and, as usual, a hush came over the crowd and they all stared as we made our way over to the table where Rosalie, Emmett, Bella, Jacob, and Leah were already sitting.

"Where's Jasper?" Alice asked as she took her seat.

"He went home," Rosalie informed her. "His throat was hurting."

Alice nodded. Ali, Jade, and Max shrugged. They thought they knew what Rose was talking about, but they hadn't the slightest idea.

_Edward_, I called in my mind. His eyes became wide for a second then went back to their normal size, his sign that he was listening. _He's having trouble with his thirst again, isn't he?_

Edward nodded and I sighed. He'd been doing fine until more humans transferred here and drowned out the werewolf smell. Last year, he'd never had to go home because he couldn't control himself, but that was because last year, there had been enough werewolves to make the human scent less appealing. Too bad more people had transferred here.

"Will he be okay, Alice?" I asked her. To anyone else, I'm sure it just seemed like I worried over my 'big brother,' and I did, but not in the way they thought. Alice and I both hated to see him feel weak or angry with himself.

Alice nodded. "I'm sure he'll be fine." And who was more reliable than Alice when it came to things that would happen?

While the Cullens pretended to not be hungry, I ate two apples and drank an iced tea that Rosalie had bought for me. Ali and Max were googly eyed over each other all throughout lunch and weren't paying the slightest bit of attention to what was going on around them. Leah, Jade, Seth, and I took the opportunity to steal the tater-tots off their trays. Neither of them took their eyes off each other long enough to get their food back.

"Tiffany alert," Alice murmured so low that only Seth, me, and everyone else at the table with uncanny super hearing could hear. Sure enough, Tiffany came bouncing toward our table in her cheerleading uniform a minute later. She sat next to a very annoyed looking Seth and started fawning over him. Of course, the girl that hated my guts was also the girl that had had a huge crush on Seth for the past two years.

_--Flashback--_

"_Are you kidding me?" I groaned as Seth was giving me a tour of the school on my first day. "Tiffany, the girl that already hates me, has liked you for the past two years?"_

_"I wish I was joking," Seth murmured. "I can't stand the girl. She is annoying, selfish, and self-centered."_

_"Hey, you," Tiffany said as she rounded the corner and spotted Seth. When she noticed me standing next to him—tucked under his arms with him kissing the top of my head—I might've sworn I saw her pupils turn to flames and smoke come out of her ears. "You know her?!" she demanded._

_"Tiffany, I'd like you to meet the love of my life," he said, pulling me in front of him. "This is Jasmine Isabella Cullen. She's new here."_

_"Believe me," she'd murmured, "we've met." Her eyes were narrowing with every word she said._

_"Where's Asia, you're little clone?" I asked, a smirk on my face._

_Tiffany might've growled at me. "She got sick and couldn't come today," she said. "I bet she caught it from you."_

_"Really?" I asked, amused. "Oh, I feel so proud of myself."_

_"Hey, Seth!" someone called from the other side of the hall. "How was your summer?"_

_"Good luck," Seth murmured in my ear before pecking my cheek and walking over to the guy that had called him._

_"I don't know what sort of game you're trying to play," Tiffany had sneered in my face, "but stay away from my boyfriend."_

_It took all I had to keep myself from laughing in her face. "I'll do my best."_

_"I'm serious, Cullen," she'd snarled. "You have him thinking that you're the love of his life, but when he opens his eyes and sees that _I'm_ the one for him, you're gone."_

_I smirked. "Let me know when I should start packing," I said, sarcastically. _

_"Hmph!" she sneered. With a flip of her hair, she was walking quickly down the hallway._

_--End Flashback--_

Of course, Seth and I had had a good laugh over that afterwards; it was still annoying for both of us.

"Go away, Tiffany," he murmured.

"What's the matter?" she asked, letting her hair cover half her face and her bottom lip stick out in a pout. She started tracing circles on his arm. "Scared your _girlfriend_ will get mad?"

Everyone at the table groaned, rolled their eyes, or snarled under their breath.

"He said go away," Emmett murmured. Too quick for human eyes to see, he stood from his seat and pushed her off the edge of her seat. She fell to the floor and caused a walking freshman to trip and dump his food all over her. The cafeteria exploded in laughter and Emmett was back in his seat before anyone—vampires and werewolves aside—noticed he'd been out of it at all.

"Ugh!" Tiffany screamed. She tried to stand up but her heel slipped on a puddle of apple sauce and sent her tumbling down again, causing even louder laughter. I looked up to see that the lunch ladies, too, were shaking with laughter and covering their mouths to hide their toothy grins. I squeezed Seth's hand that was in mine and he returned the favor.

"Moment to be remembered," he whispered in my ear.

"Definitely," I agreed.

Tiffany eventually managed to stand up without falling and stormed out of the cafeteria, her light blue poncho stained, blonde hair matted with pudding, and a pizza slice stuck to the back of her skirt.

"Amazing," I said through my increasing laughter. When the noise quieted, Alice whispered to Emmett, "That wasn't very nice."

"_She_ wasn't very nice," he murmured.

"He's right," Rosalie said. "I can't stand her. Stupid blonde bi—"

"Rose," Alice warned her as the principal, Mr. Keller, walked past her. "Besides, I wouldn't be the one talking…" Alice eyed Rosalie's blonde hair playfully.

"Finish that sentence and you'll end up exactly like Tif," she pointed toward the mess Tiffany had made which was now being cleaned up by a custodian.

The remainder of lunch and my sixth and seventh period classes, science and gym, flew by. We finished reading the final chapter in our science books and ran half a mile in gym. Before I knew it, the final bell was ringing and Seth and I were heading for the exit.

"Are you ready for our date, Ms. Cullen?" he asked me.

"Why of course, Mr. Clearwater," I answered, mimicking his bad use of an English accent. I smiled and he took my hand. My heart started flipping at his touch and I smiled even wider. I never exactly got used to that. I figured I probably never would, and I was perfectly okay with that. Seth seemed to like it too. He brushed my hair back with his free hand and put it over my overreacting heart. It started beating faster.

"You have no clue how much I love that," he whispered in my ear. I giggled and he planted a kiss on my laughing mouth which I returned.

"Whore," Tiffany coughed as she walked by us. I rolled my eyes but paid her no more attention.

Soon—too soon—Seth leaned back took look at my face and smiled down at me. I sighed. I couldn't help it, I loved him too much.

"Let's get you out of here," he said. I smiled and took his hand again.

As we were walking toward the parking lot, I noticed a bunch of people crowded around a car.

"What is everyone staring at?" I asked.

"You're new car," Seth answered as he pulled me through the crowd.

I gasped at the view in front of me. I knew nothing about cars so I couldn't possibly name it. It was long, blue, and amazing. My eyes became wide and surprised.

"You got me a _car_?!" I exclaimed.

"Alice and Jasper put up most of the money. I would've gotten it for you last year when you got your license, but it was real hard to find one. The Veyron is the most expensive car in the world, you know."

He opened the passenger door for me and I climbed in willingly to get away from the throng of people.

"Thank you," I sighed when he was in the car.

"It's no problem," he said. "Really."

Seth honked the horn as a sign for everyone to clear out. As people backed away, Seth started driving out of the parking lot.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked him.

"Somewhere," he answered, a smirk on his face.

"Seth," I whined. "Where are we going?" He knew I hated surprises.

"You'll see," he said.

My phone rang.

"Hello?" I said into the phone once I'd dug it out of my bag.

"Hey Jazzy!" Alice squealed. "You like your new car?"

"I love it, Alice," I said. "Thanks. Tell Jasper I said thank you."

"She says thank you," Alice whispered, obviously not to me. "He says it was no problem. He hasn't told you where he's taking you, right?"

"No, Alice," I said. I saw Seth smile beside me. "He's good at keeping secrets."

"Oh, goody!" she squealed rather loudly. "I'll see you two later, then."

"See you later," I murmured and closed the phone. So Alice was in on it, too? Well, I guess no one could keep anything from Alice, but it was still unfair.

"Still not telling me where we're going?" I asked Seth.

"Still not telling," he answered.

Seth entwined his fingers with mine and we drove in silence until he pulled the car onto the cliff of the La Push beach. That's when it all fit together. Today was the one year anniversary of the day of our first kiss, the imprinting, and the declaration of our love for one another. My eyes became blurry with tears of joy.

"Happy anniversary, Jasmine," Seth whispered. He got out of the car and came around to open my door for me. I took the hand he offered to me and he pulled me out of the car. He led me to the edge of the cliff and we stared out, hand in hand, side by side, into the horizon.

"I love you," I reminded him.

"I love you, too," he said. Seth took both my hands in his and pulled me to his chest. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck and we kissed passionately.

The loud howl of a pained wolf came from the forest to our right.

"Leah," Seth gasped. "Leah!" He looked behind him at the forest where the howling continued. "Stay right here, Jasmine, I'll be right back."

Seth ran off into the woods where Leah's cries of pain became louder and even more painful. My mouth dropped as I prayed for her safety. Suddenly, I felt someone's presence behind me and saw their shadow reflected over mine. He laughed slightly and his warm breath landed on my neck. I was scared stiff. Had this person hurt Leah in order to get Seth away from me? Was he going to hurt me next? He put his hands on my shoulders.

I screamed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Yeah… I still don't own Twilight or any of these songs, unfortunately… All credit for the song used in this chapter, again, goes to _Flyleaf_. **

"Hey, hey," Embry said. "Sorry I scared you."

I sighed in relief. "It's fine," I said. "I overreacted a bit."

"I'll say." Embry looked around him. "Hey, where's Seth?"

"He went to go help Leah. He thinks she's hurt."

"And he left you here all alone?"

I groaned. "What do you want, Embry?" I asked.

"Nothing much," he said, caressing my arms.

"Get your hands _off _me!" I screamed. Embry had this idea that—since imprinting could be any kind of love—I would leave Seth for him. And no matter how much I reminded him that he would imprint one day on some other girl, he didn't give up. I guess his plan was to just dump me when that girl came along. Yeah, no.

"Afraid your _boyfriend_ will be mad?" Ugh. He was starting to sound like a male version of Tiffany.

I turned around and started walking toward the car. I figured I'd hide in there until Seth got back.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Away from _you_!" I huffed.

He grabbed my wrist. I tried to break free but he was too strong. Ugh! He turned me to face him.

"Let go of me," I fumed.

"No," he smirked.

"Embry Call, if you do not let go of me this _instant_, I swear on my _life_ I'll—"

"You'll what?" he mused.

"If I were you, I wouldn't stick around to find out." I pulled my wrist from his grasp and started walking again. He grabbed my arm this time. His grip was so strong; I couldn't break free this time. His free hand traced my leg.

I jerked my knee up. I jerked my knee up _really_ hard.

Embry let out a pained huff and loosened his grip. I took the opportunity and ran. I pulled on the handle to open the door of the passenger's seat. It was locked, great!

Of course, I knew better than to upset a werewolf. I'd seen what happened to Emily, I'd heard of Bella's experiences with angry wolves. But I couldn't help it.

I jerked at the handle as if my some miracle it would unlock. Of course, it didn't. Embry recovered from the pain and had come after me. His hand grabbed my upper left arm. I tried to kick him again, but he had his foot placed firmly over my own, giving me the inability to move it. I might've tried with my other leg, but Embry was repeating the gesture that got him hurt in the first place.

I completely lost it then. My right hand formed a hard fist and I swung it at his face.

Embry fell back onto the floor. His nose was bleeding really badly. I just stared at him through my angry eyes. How dare him! I never thought he would go this far! I couldn't believe it! I was shocked. I was angry. I was… I was furious! My heart rate increased with my anger and my breathing got heavy. I wanted to kill the guy lying in front of me. Eventually, my anger receded and my adrenaline rush evaporated. All that was left was self-horror.

I stared at the still clenched fist that rested at my side. Did I really just do that? That was so… unlike me. But, really, he'd had it coming! The bleeding had stopped by now, but the once flowing blood had stained the ground beneath my victim where he laid, unconscious, but alive… I hoped.

"Seth," I whispered to myself. "Seth!" I called louder. He came out of the woods but seconds later only in sweatpants. I imagined he'd been running. I turned around and saw Seth smile at me and then look to my side and saw what I'd done.

"What happened?" he asked, running up to my side.

"He had it coming," I murmured.

"What happened, Jasmine?" he demanded.

So I told him.

"Oh my God," he snarled. "What the hell is wrong with him?!"

"I've been asking myself the same thing," I murmured.

"Did you break your hand?" he asked.

"No," I replied. "Why would I have broken my hand?"

He stared at me in shock. "You didn't break your hand?"

"No," I repeated.

"Let me see," he suggested. I lifted my right hand and he examined it. "It doesn't hurt at all?" he clarified.

"No. Seth, am I missing something?"

"Bella didn't tell you?"

"I don't think so. What happened?"

"When Bella was human she punched Jacob in the face. She broke her arm. No human is supposed to be strong enough to cause damage to a werewolf without hurting themselves greatly. I'm surprised that your hand doesn't even hurt."

"Now, so am I," I said. I moved my hand around but it didn't feel abnormal at all. "I just got so mad."

"You had a right to be," Seth said. "I'm going to call Sam to come get him. He might need to go to the hospital."

"Will he be all right?" I asked. "I hope I didn't hurt him very badly."

"For his sake, I hope you did," Seth said. "It might teach him a lesson."

Seth dug his phone out of his pocket and dialed what I figured was Sam's number.

"Sam," Seth said, "Can you come down by the cliff? Something's happened … No; Bella didn't jump again … Jasmine punched Embry—" A loud laugh from the other end that even I could here "—He crossed the line," he said through clenched, furious teeth. "I'll explain later … Can you please just come take him to the hospital … He's unconscious … No, she's not hurt … I have no clue … Carlisle might know, though. He always has answers … Because I don't want that worthless mutt in my car … All right, see you soon."

"Is he on his way?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure he'll be here soon." Seth looked down at me with a small smile on his face. "Now, let's get you out of here."

He pressed a button on the car keys and the doors unlocked. I pulled the handle and stepped inside. Buckling my seatbelt, I stared out at Embry. He was starting to stir. Soon, he was sitting up. Looking dizzy, he fell back down. I stifled a laugh then quieted it immediately. I hated violence, I didn't believe in it. And yet, I had just knocked a werewolf unconscious. What was wrong with me?

"I'm sorry you had to… go through that," Seth sighed.

"It wasn't your fault," I said.

"Yes it was, Jasmine," he argued. "If I hadn't had left you, he wouldn't have done that."

"You had to help Leah," I said. I realized I'd just opened the door to a new branch of conversation. "What happened to Leah?" I decided to ask.

"She was trying to beat her running record," he said. "She got her foot caught in an old animal trap. When she tried to pull free, she made it worse and it hurt her leg. She couldn't move very well."

"Where is she now?" I asked.

"Probably running again." Seth shrugged. "I tried to make her go home, but she wouldn't hear of it."

"She's strong," I said. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

"I'm sure she will. But, Jasmine," Seth said, looking into my eyes, "will you be okay?"

I knew I couldn't steer the conversation away from this for very long. I sighed. "I will. I'm sure he won't be bothering me anymore."

"I'm sorry," he said again.

"Seth," I said sternly, looking him in the eye, "it isn't your fault that Embry is a complete moron."

"Still," he said, gripping the steering wheel even tighter, "I can't help but feel that if I had been there, that wouldn't have happened."

"You went to help your sister," I reminded him. "That's hardly a crime."

"So you don't care at all that Embry just crossed the line ten times over?"

"Of course I care. It definitely made my top ten on my 'things I never want to relive' list."

Seth's phone vibrated at the moment, cutting him off from whatever he was about to say. "Carlisle?" he asked after looking at the caller ID. "You've got to be kidding me … He hasn't seen her around school? … That explains it … Will you be home soon? … I want you to take a look at Jasmine's hand. She says it doesn't hurt at all, but I think she needs a professional's opinion … All right, great. Thank you, Carlisle." He closed his phone.

"He imprinted, didn't he?" I asked.

"How did you know that?" Seth stared at me in bewilderment.

"I'm not sure," I said. "I've been doing that a lot lately."

"All right, Smarty," he teased. "Let's see what else you know. What's her name?"

"Seth," I whined, "don't make me do this."

"Just guess," he pressed.

I groaned. "Fine. Um… Sandra?"

He stared at me again.

"I got it right?" I asked, amazed with myself.

"Surprisingly," he said. "Sandra Tilling. She got a part time job at the hospital when she moved here from New Mexico. She didn't feel comfortable starting a new school in the middle of the year so her mom is homeschooling her."

"Well, I guess he should thank me, then."

"He should. Without you having punched him, he might never have seen her."

"Tell him I'm awaiting a thank you and an apology."

"Will do."

We pulled into the Cullen driveway at that moment. Alice was there to greet us.

"Hey," she said. "I heard."

"Carlisle?" I asked.

She nodded. "I'm getting your cell phone number changed, by the way."

"That won't be necessary," I said. "I don't think he'll be calling any time soon."

"And why is that?" Alice smirked. I'm sure she already knew why, she probably just wanted to hear me say it. That, or Emmett had his ear pressed to the door awaiting a laugh.

"Because I punched him in the face," I said. "And just for the record, I feel terrible about it and will _never_ do it again."

I heard a teasing "aw" from Emmett inside the house.

"He has no clue what the meaning or privacy is, does he?" I asked.

"I don't think any of us can help it," Alice giggled. "We hear things we don't want to hear a lot of the time."

Alice scurried inside the house, Seth and I behind her.

"Glad to hear you like your new car," Jasper said once we were inside."

"It's _amazing_, Jasper!" I squealed. "I love it." I ran over to give him a big hug before hurrying upstairs, Seth at my heels.

"Time to practice?" he asked as I emerged from my closet with a purple guitar slung onto my shoulder.

"It sure is," I answered. He pulled his own guitar out from behind my desk and held it in his hands.

"The usual?" he asked.

"I was thinking something different today," I said.

"Which one?" he asked.

"So I Thought," I answered. He smiled at me and as I waited for my heart rate to return to normal, I smiled back.

As we started playing the beginning of the song, I put my entire soul into it like I always did when I was around music. It made it so much more special that I got to share something I loved to do with the person I loved more than life itself. It was a song I'd written not very long ago, and it was one of my favorites. Not exactly the most upbeat song, but it was still beautiful. After a few seconds, it was time for my vocals to come in.

"_All your twisted thoughts free flow  
To everlasting memories  
Show soul  
Kiss the stars with me  
And dread the wait for  
Stupid calls returning to us to life  
We say to those who are in love  
It can't be true 'cause we're too young  
I know that's true because so long I was  
So in love with you  
So I thought_

_A year goes by  
__And I can't talk about it_

_On my knees  
Dim lighted room  
Thoughts free flow try to consume myself in this  
I'm not faithless  
Just paranoid of getting lost or that I might lose  
Ignorance is bliss cherish it  
Pretty neighborhoods you learn to much to hold  
Believe it not  
And fight the tears  
With pretty smiles and lies about the times_

_A year goes by  
__And I can't talk about it  
__The times weren't right  
__And I can't talk about it"_

I continued to strum away on my guitar for a few more seconds without singing. When it was time for the vocals to start up again, Seth joined me.

"_Choris Romance says goodnight  
Close your eyes and I'll close mine  
Remember you, remember me  
Hurt the first, the last between  
Choris Romance says goodnight  
Close your eyes and I'll close mine  
Remember you, remember me  
Hurt the first, the last, betw—"_

"Jasmine!" Bella called from downstairs, interrupting us. I dropped my guitar and let it hang on my shoulder. I looked over at Seth who was looking as confused as I felt. "Carlisle's home! He wants to take a look at your hand!"

I sighed. Did I not just play half of a song? My hand is fine. I reluctantly pulled the guitar strap over my head and propped it up against the wall. I took Seth's hand in my _completely unharmed _hand and we walked out of my room and down the stairs.

"Carlisle, I swear I am perfectly fine," I said.

"Let's get a second opinion on that, shall we?" Esme said, ushering me over to the table. She motioned for me to sit on the table, which I did. Carlisle came over with his doctor's bag in hand.

"Let's take a look at that arm," he said. "Does it hurt at all?"

"Not at all, Carlisle," I assured him.

He picked up my arm and looked at it for a moment. He moved it around in a circular motion then pulled slightly at my wrist. I didn't twitch even once.

"Hm," he said. "There doesn't appear to be anything wrong with it. I can only conclude that Jasmine acted on either an adrenaline or an anger rush that gave her enough strength to momentarily knock Embry unconscious without hurting herself."

"So, there's nothing wrong with me?" I said, hopping down from the table.

"Nothing I can see," he assured me. "Just don't try that again. I cannot guarantee that you'll always come out unharmed in a situation like this."

"Oh, there won't be another situation like this," Seth said through clenched teeth. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

"Don't worry, Seth," Alice said, walking into the room. "I don't see anything even relatively close to this in her future."

My phone rang at that moment. I took it out of my pocket and looked at the caller ID which read "Don't Answer." Embry was calling.

"Hello?" I asked as I held the phone to my ear.

"Hey, Jasmine? It's Embry."

"Hey, Embry. I heard about the imprinting. You're welcome."

"'You're welcome' for what?"

"If I hadn't socked you in the face, you would've probably never seen her."

"Ha ha, I guess you're right. Thanks."

"And again, you're welcome."

"And, Jasmine, I'm really sorry about that. I just—"

"Hold it. Embry, really, it's all right."

"Did you hurt your hand?"

"No, actually. Carlisle said I acted on an adrenaline rush that was strong enough to keep me from hurting myself."

"That's good. I was worried you'd broken something."

"Oh, how's your nose? I'm sorry about that, really, I am. I shouldn't have done it. It was so unlike me…"

"You had a right to. I probably would've done the same thing to I don't blame you. As for my nose, it's broken. Being a werewolf, though, it should be fully healed by tomorrow."

"Glad to hear you're doing better."

"I'm not," Seth murmured beside me.

"Embry!" a different, unfamiliar voice said. "Let's go!"

"Er… I gotta go. See you Monday?" Embry said.

"See you." Then I hung up the phone.

"I hear he's fairing well?" Alice questioned.

"Yeah, he'll be fine by morning," I answered.

"That's nice," she said. "I heard your practice earlier. That was great. I told you you'd need the guitar later."

"Thanks, Alice," I said. "You really thought it was that good?"

"It was better than good," Rosalie who was just walking into the room volunteered. "It was spectacular."

"Your voice was amazing," Emmett said. "How anyone can sing like that without lessons, I'll never know."

"Did you ever think of maybe singing up to be the entertainment for senior prom?" Seth asked. "The whole thing is next week and the committee hasn't booked a gig yet. I'm sure they'd love you."

My face flushed. "Oh no. Oh heck no. I cannot sing in front of a crowd and I do not plan to try."

"C'mon, Jazzy," Bella said. "It would be so amazing to have a Cullen onstage."

"Yeah, I can talk to the head of the committee for you," Edward said.

"No one do anything," I said. "I am not singing and that is final."

I tried to drown out all the persuasion going on around me. My talents were going to remain hidden among my family members and that was that.

**Author's Note: Hey everyone. Just to remind you all, I'm sort of just winging this entire high school thing considering the fact that, well, you know, I'm in the sixth grade… If I ****write something wrong about any of this, can someone please leave me a review and tell me because I want to make this as accurate as possible and the oldest friends I have are in eighth grade so I figure middle school is pretty different from high school. Thanks everyone! ~April**


	3. Chapter 3

The hallway was buzzing with prom night anticipation that Friday. Everywhere I looked, there were posters announcing the date and girls fawning over their dates. Only two guys had wound up the courage to ask me, but they didn't seem too surprised when I'd turned them down. They knew I wasn't available.

"Hey, Jasmine!" Jade called, a smile planted on her face. "You'll never guess who just asked me to prom!"

"I thought you weren't going to prom, Jade," I said as I slammed my locker closed.

"I wasn't going because no one had asked me, until now, of course."

"And who was that?"

"Brian Hardwick from my Spanish class. He came up to me after class and asked! Ali and Max are obviously going. How about you and Seth?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." And in truth, I wouldn't. I'd gotten sick for prom last year so that was one experience I simply needed to have. I could've done without the beauty attack that Alice was sure to bring on me after school, though.

"Great!" Jade exclaimed as the final bell rang. "I'll see you, Seth, and the rest of the Cullens tonight, then?"

"You sure will."

Brian Hardwick was coming toward us—toward Jade—now and his eyes were full of happiness when he saw her blush. "Ready to go?" he asked her. Their eyes locked and I thought they'd never look up.

"Ready," she said. Jade wrapped her arms around one of his and they started walking. I smiled; glad to see my best friend happy.

"Wow," Seth said as he came to my side. "Jade and Hardwick. I can't say I saw that one coming."

"You're no Alice," I teased. "And she really should have told me about this at lunch instead of running off some place with Jasper." Alice and Jasper had ditched today, apparently. They hadn't been at the lunch table and the Cullens, Leah, Jacob, and Seth refused to tell me where they went. I was pretty ticked off about it. They all seemed to be in on it and that meant a surprise. And as the entire world should've known, I hated surprises.

"Maybe she didn't see," Seth suggested as we walked out the door. "Alice doesn't search people's futures just to see what she can find."

"Oh yes she does," I smirked. "Alice abuses her powers as much as Edward does."

"I have to say," Seth chuckled, "that's true."

He opened the passenger door of my car for me. I groaned. "When do I get to drive?" I asked.

"When I decide you can keep from being distracted long enough to keep your car in one piece," he smiled.

"I am not distracted easily, Seth," I argued.

Seth took my hand in his and stared into my eyes for a second, and a second was all it took. I was lost in his deep brown eyes and his touch sent my heart racing and shivers up my spine.

"No, not distracted at all," he smiled. Ugh, he was right.

"Fine," I said. "I get distracted sometimes. _Sometimes_."

Seth chuckled. "Just needed you to admit it. Now please put on your seat belt before I start the car, Jasmine."

I did as he said and buckled my seat belt.

"Are Alice and Jasper home yet?" I asked as he backed the car out of the nearly empty parking lot.

"They should be," he answered, looking at his watch. "They left as soon as you were inside the school."

"Where did they go?" I asked.

"Now, that I can't tell you."

"And why not?"

"Because I swore I wouldn't." He smiled over at me as I searched in my head for a rational explanation as to why Alice _and _Jasper had skipped school… and as to why I wasn't allowed to know.

"And if I ask Bella?" Bella always told me everything. She knew how much I hated not knowing things.

"She won't tell you," Seth smirked. Well there went that plan.

"When will I find out, then?"

"Soon enough."

I felt my bottom lip stick out in protest. With my arms crossed across my chest, I felt like a stubborn two year old. Seth chuckled at the pouted grimace on my face.

"Would it make you feel better if I said it would benefit you?" he asked me.

"Not exactly," I said. "But thanks for the effort."

"And really," he continued. "Even if we hadn't promised Jazz and Alice that we wouldn't say anything, there wouldn't be much to say. Even Jasper doesn't know the details. Or, when they left this morning he didn't. Alice—"

"Will be Alice," I finished with a smile.

"Let's hope she is home," Seth smirked. "Or else you'll have to get ready for prom yourself."

I groaned. Frankly, I loved playing Alice's Barbie, but I didn't think I could handle her ambushes for a special occasion. Daily for school, she went over the top, so I really didn't want to imagine what she would do _today_.

"Relax," he said. We were driving into the woods now, so I knew we weren't so far away from the house, from Alice and her attack. Seth held my hand and breathed in deeply. He looked over at me, waiting for me to do the same. I inhaled the biggest breath I could and let it out slowly.

"That's my girl," he said. "Now please try and compose yourself. If you don't fight with her, she won't fight with you."

I took another deep breath and held it in while I tried to smile. Ahead of us, the brush was parting and I could catch but a glimpse of the large white house. How long did this give me before being assaulted? Not very long, it seemed. Only seconds had passed until the car was completely stopped and my car door was being opened by Alice and Rosalie was pulling me out of the car. Each of them grabbed one of my arms and practically flew me up the porch steps, into the house, and into their enormous bathroom.

"Where were you all day?" I asked Alice as soon as I could catch my breath. Rosalie pushed me down onto a pink salon chair and they spun me to face the wall.

"That's not important," Alice said. "You'll find out soon enough."

"I assume you won't tell me either, Rose?"

Rosalie smiled, revealing two rows of perfectly straight, white, shining teeth. Even how she was now—with curlers in her hair and in a pair of ratty sweats—she was still the most beautiful person I'd ever seen. "Not a chance," she said.

I dared look over at Alice who was working on brushing my hair. Her short black hair seemed to sparkle as if it had small gems combed into it. It was spiked out as it usually was with her bangs brushed to the side. A golden headband was placed on her head. I could only imagine how amazing Bella looked. Was there a point in even _trying_ to look nice when your group was made up of dazzling, graceful vampires and equally graceful werewolves? No, no there wasn't.

I was hardly aware of the two pairs of hands pulling at my hair until I felt something extremely hot touch my scalp. I inhaled sharply.

"Sorry," Alice apologized. "My bad."

"How's she holding up, Alice?" Bella asked, walking into the room.

"She's doing well. We're almost done with her hair. It won't be so intricate. We wouldn't want her hair to take the attention away from her dress."

"Where _is_ her dress, Alice? I haven't seen it yet," Rosalie said.

"No one has," Alice answered. "No one except for me."

I opened one of my closed eyes to peek over at Bella. She seemed to be the only one completely ready. Her hair billowed about her beautifully and her diamond earrings sparkled in contrast to her dark locks. Her blue dress went down to her knees with a skirt that puffed out a few inches. Her bodice fit her figure nicely and it had sparkles scattered around it with precision.

"You look amazing, Bella," I complimented.

"Thanks," she said. "Edward bought it for me. Do you like it?"

"I love it, Bells."

"Bella?" Rosalie asked. "Do you mind taking over for me? I need to go get ready."

"Sure, Rose." Bella walked over to her and wound her hands into the hair Rosalie had been holding. "You go get ready."

"Thanks." Walking out of the bathroom, Rose started pulling the curlers out of her hair and had over half of them out before she walked into the hall. "See you at the dance," she called behind her shoulder.

"She's not going with us?" I asked.

Alice shook her head as her hand released the curling iron little by little. "She and Emmett are going to meet us there. They're taking her car. As a matter of fact, we're all going separately. Bella and Edward are taking the Guardian, Jazz and I are going in my Porsche, you and Seth, then Jacob and Leah are borrowing the Vanquish."

"Jacob and _Leah_?" I asked, bemused. I didn't see _that _one coming.

Alice laughed at my expression. "They figured it would be fun."

"That's… nice," I said.

Bella laughed. "And Carlisle and Esme are taking Nessie to Charlie's for the night, right?"

"Right," Alice said. She'd finished with the right side of my hair and was coming over to help Bella with the left.

"What _is_ the story with your dad, Bella?" I asked. "Does he… does he know?"

"Oh, no," Bella said. "He knows about Jacob being a werewolf, though."

"Idiot," Alice murmured. I knew she meant Jacob.

"The rest he just guesses. He has no clue that we're repeating high school. Charlie figures that we're all just going out to Olympia for the night."

"I'm glad you got to keep your family close," I said.

"And my old friends," she informed me. "Hey, speaking of old friends, Alice, did you hear about Angela and Ben?" Who?

"No, Bella," Alice said sarcastically. "I didn't have a vision about this the second Angela caught your bouquet. So when is their wedding?"

"Next month," Bella replied.

"Did I just imagine you saying this, or are Ben Cheney and Angela Webber getting married?" Rosalie asked, walking into the room. Her high heels clacked against the marble floor. I wasn't sure if I wanted to look at Rosalie, it might've killed my self esteem. I peeked over at her and saw her in a short pink dress with a clever neckline that complimented her pale skin, red lips, and blonde hair nicely. Brown jewels and a sash at the waist added a simple, yet elegant touch. The dress itself wasn't very flashy and she wore no makeup aside from the lipstick, but she still looked like royalty.

"You heard correctly," Bella said. "Angela called me the other day. She wants me to play maid of honor. Anyway, I thought you and Emmett were leaving."

"Aw, I'm so happy to see things work out for them," Rosalie said. "And we were leaving, but I left my earrings in here." Her hand floated across the counter and scooped down when she spotted the light pink dangling earrings. She opened a small clasp and closed it around her ear, repeating the gesture with the next ear. Clip on earrings? Huh, I wonder why she didn't use real ones…

"All right, I'm off," Rosalie said, walking out the door. "See you all later!"

"Bye, Rose," Alice murmured. A few more seconds passed until she declared, "All right, you're hair is officially amazing."

"Can I look?" I asked.

Alice shook her head and smiled. "Bella, cover her eyes and lead her to the bedroom, please. Leah should be in there to help you. Jasmine's dress is on the bed. Now I have to go get ready. Have fun!"

Bella clamped one hand gently over my eyes and pulled me up off the chair with her other hand. She guided me out of the bathroom, down the hall, and into a room. I heard the door close behind us. Her hand flew from my eyes and before I could blink, she was turning a full length mirror to face the wall.

"Where is that dress?" Bella whispered, half to herself.

"Here it is," Leah said, walking into the room. She was in a red dress with a full skirt that flowed down to the middle of her calf. Its straps and waistline were embellished with sequins with a pleated bust that overlapped slightly. Leah and Bella examined one another's attire for a moment before smiling.

"You look nice," they said at once, breaking into a small round of laughter at the coincidence.

"Let's get her into the dress," Bella said, reaching out to take the garment from Leah's hands. I didn't dare look at it. My excuse later would be that I wanted the full effect when I first looked in the mirror. My real reason? I didn't want to eliminate the wave of calmness that had swept over me just yet.

I let Bella and Leah do their work, the entire time squeezing my eyes shut with so much force that it made my head hurt.

"All right, Jasmine," Bella said after what seemed like forever. "Turn around and open those eyes of yours before they become permanently closed."

I turned but did not look in front of me where I knew a mirror was waiting. My eyes immediately went to Bella who was smiling then to Leah who was fluffing her hair. Renesmee had come into the room and was sitting on the bed.

"For Heaven's sake, Jasmine!" she said. "Look in the mirror!"  
I did as she ordered and gasped at the sight in front of me. The dress was a beautiful shade of turquoise with a thick, gold waist. The gathered, A-line skirt went down to my knees, embellished with large, gold polka dots. My hair wasn't very elaborate, just curled to the side to show my face which Alice seemed to have invested much time on. I had to admit, I looked beautiful.

"Jasmine, you look like a princess," Renesmee sighed. I walked over and hugged her.

"I wish you could come," I whispered in her ear. Her arms wound around me.

"A few more years," she informed me. "Then, I'll look old enough to be in high school with all of you!" She sounded excited, the way I did before I experienced what high school was _really _like.

"I love that color on you," Alice said, walking through the door. Her dress was black and short with white dots decorating the bust and flared skirt. The dark fabric was a nice contrast to her pale white skin. A red sash decorated the waist and a large, black rosette decorated that. Her red heels made her seem much taller than she really was. My eyes fell on the gold headband that was still on her head. I wondered why she wasn't wearing the red one that she'd bought the other day. It wasn't like her to wear things that didn't match on some level. I decided I wouldn't ask.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Alice said, her eyes looking up. Very carefully, she removed the diadem from her hair and walked over to me. "I wore this to my very first prom, years ago. I thought it would compliment you nicely." She placed it on my head and after a few seconds of tweaking it, she declared it perfect.

"Thank you, Alice," I smiled.

"No problem," she giggled.

"Come on, girls," Esme called from downstairs. "We need to take pictures before you go!"

I groaned. I detested pictures. But if it made Esme happy, then so be it. I grabbed the shoes Leah held out for me and put them on my feet before following them out of the room. Alice waltzed down the stairs and Bella simply jumped down over the railing. I walked down slowly behind Leah.

"You girls look beautiful," Esme said, a camera in her hands. "Don't they, boys?"

Jacob, Edward, Jasper, and Seth were waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Renesmee had somehow beaten us downstairs and was standing between Jake and Edward.

Alice skipped over to Jasper and pecked his cheek. He smiled a large smile and carried her bridal style to the door.

"Wait, wait!" Esme called. "Picture!"

Alice giggled as Jasper turned around. The camera flashed and Esme looked down at the picture. "Beautiful," she declared. "Who's next? Jacob, Leah, how about you two?"

Leah blushed a bit as she and Jacob entwined their hands and smiled for the picture. I tried so hard to keep from laughing. A small chuckle did manage to escape my lips, however. Leah's eyes became daggers as she stared at me. I stuck my tongue out like a two year old.

Edward and Bella's pictures looked like something you'd find on the large posters you see in flashy, expensive department stores, except a thousand times more flawless.

"Esme?" I asked as Bella and Edward walked out of the house. "Do you mind if we skip out on the pictures?"

Esme smiled. "Of course not, Jasmine. You and Seth go on."

"Thanks."

I had been standing on the stairs the whole time. I took the last two steps down and Seth swept me into his arms.

"Jasmine," he sighed in my ear. "You look amazingly beautiful tonight."

"You don't look half bad yourself," I said to him. He leaned down slowly and brushed his lips against mine. That moment, I heard a camera go off and Esme chuckled.

"I got a shot," she said. I sighed and smiled.

"Thank you, Esme," Seth said.

"My pleasure," she answered. "Now, you two better get going. Don't want to be late." We walked outside to the car and stepped into it. As we started backing out of the driveway, Esme winked at Seth who nodded with a smirk on his face.

"Am I missing something?" I asked.

"Don't worry about it," he said.

I took a deep breath and smiled. I wouldn't worry about it. I wouldn't worry about anything tonight. I had the love of my life at my side and the best family in the world around me. What could there possibly be to worry about? Nothing… right?

**Author's Note: Ello everyone! (: Thanks for the reviews! You all know I love reviews ;D Sorry I keep pushing the fast forward button on you guys, but if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to get in even half the things I want. I'll probably keep fast forwarding a lot. But rest assured, I won't skip anything important. So, before I wrap this up, I'm hoping you'll all check out my new story, Never Cry Another Tear. It's a one shot that revolves around Leah. Please read&review! Thanks! ~April**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does and, let me tell you, I've never been so jealous of anyone… ever. XD Oh and the songs, yeah, not mine. None of them. Credit for **_**Dirty Little Secret**_** goes to **_**All-American Rejects**_** and credit for **_**Born for This**_** goes to Paramore.**

As we pulled into the full parking lot of La Push High, I noticed all the Cullens were already there. Figures they'd beat us there with their maniac driving. My pulse was fast with excitement as Seth came around to open my door and lift me out of the car. My first prom! I could hardly believe it. I could live through Alice's torture if it meant being able to do this with people I love so much at my side. I took Seth's outstretched hand and allowed myself to be lifted out of the car. The second I stepped out, a camera flashed. I groaned. Not again.

"I'll take it once more," Emmett said with a goofy smile on his face. He was in a simple tux and Rosalie—looking beautiful as ever—was at his side. "And smile this time. It's for the yearbook."

I sighed and gave him the best sarcastic smile I could manage. Emmett snapped the picture again and sighed as he looked at the result.

"Ha, Esme's gonna love this," he said.

"Emmett!" I complained. "You said that was for the yearbook!"

"I lied," he shrugged. Emmett smiled again and opened the doors for us.

The inside of the gym looked amazing. The disco ball added a nice effect. It wasn't very difficult to spot the Cullens. They were dancing in the middle of the crowd, the dim light reflecting off their skin. Edward and Bella danced gracefully as if they were Cinderella and Prince Charming. Alice and Jasper were just as graceful, though not as flamboyant. Jacob and Leah swayed from side to side, smiling and laughing. Emmett and Rosalie were already making their way through the crowd, both ignoring the envious whispers of male and female alike.

"May I have this dance?" Seth asked politely, bowing. He stretched out his hand and straightened up when I took it. I wasn't exactly uncoordinated; I just had absolutely no clue how to dance. Seth, however, seemed to know what he was doing. We danced around in the small circle that seemed to have formed around the Cullens until a frantic looking Ali came running up to Alice.

"Alice, Alice!" she said, clearly out of breath. "This is terrible! The band we booked is here, but their lead singer is with laryngitis! What do we do?"

Alice—head of the prom committee—looked over at me.

"Jasmine will sing," she said.

"What?" I asked, involuntarily tearing my eyes away from Seth's to glare at Alice.

"Please, Jazzy!" Alice pleaded. "Please, please, please, oh _please_!"

"Not. A. Chance." I made each word a sentence, powerfully pronounced. I was not going to get up in front of the entire student body and sing! Like I said, not a chance!

"But, please!" Alice said again. "The prom will be ruined if you don't do this! No one else can! Please, Jasmine, please!" To any human, her eyes might have looked sad and pleading. To me, they looked like the eyes of a psychic vampire who knew that this argument was going to end in her favor. I sighed. There was no use fighting Alice when she'd already won.

"All right," I grumbled.

Alice squealed. "The stage is this way!" she exclaimed, pulling me toward my death. I looked back at Seth and saw he was laughing. When he noticed I was looking, he blew a kiss at me. I grimaced in return.

"Good luck," he mouthed.

Alice pulled me up the four steps to get onto the stage. Once there, she positioned the microphone in front of me before pushing me back and leaning into it to make an announcement.

"Student of La Push High," she said into the microphone. "There's been a slight change of plans for tonight's entertainment. One of our own students will perform tonight with Broken Wings. Please put your hands together for Jasmine Isabella Cullen." Alice clapped her hands softly as applause erupted from the entire room. I inhaled deeply and mentally prepared myself for what I was about to do.

"Good luck," Alice whispered as she swept past me.

"You can start at any time," the guitarist whispered to me. "We can easily follow even if we don't know the song."

I gulped and nodded sheepishly. I was going to kill Alice for this later. I searched through my head for a song—_any_ song—to sing. I finally decided on one I'd barely written. It was upbeat and perfect for the time and place.

"I almost forgot," Alice said, making her way through the crowd and up to me. "You'll need this."

She handed me my electric guitar. Suddenly, it all clicked together. Alice had seen this coming. Therefore, I was absolutely positive that I was the only one who didn't know. Again. Alice's lips turned down in a grimace as she scrutinized my face. She fell back into the crowd as I flung the strap over my shoulder. I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes before starting to play. The band followed my lead perfectly, and not twenty seconds had passed before it was time for me to sing.

"_Let me know that I've done wrong_

_When I've known this all along_

_I go around a time or two_

_Just to waste my time with you_

"_Tell me all that you've thrown away_

_Find out games you don't wanna play_

_You are the only one that needs to know_

"_I'll keep you my dirty little secret_

_Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret_

_Hope that you can keep it_

_My dirty little secret"_

My heart was racing, the blood pounded behind my ears making it impossible to hear almost anything, and yet I knew they were cheering. Cheering for _me_, nonetheless. The Cullens, Leah, Jacob, and—cue the flipping of my heart—Seth were standing in a far corner of the room, whispering to each other and cheering my name. Alice and Jasper looked like proud parents—and, no, I never got over calling them that, even though they were physically only a few years older than me—beaming with delight. Seth caught my eye, smiling, and for a second, I almost forgot to keep singing.

"_Who has to know?_

_When we live such fragile lives_

_It's the best way we survive_

_I go around a time or two_

_Just to waste my time with you_

"_Tell me all that you've thrown away_

_Find out games you don't wanna play_

_You are the only one that needs to know_

"_I'll keep you my dirty little secret_

_Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret_

_Hope that you can keep it_

_My dirty little secret"_

I couldn't believe the rate my heart was racing at. I caught sight of Jade and Ali in the back with the Cullens and their dates, both looking surprised that I—of all people—could do this. To say the truth, I was just as surprised, if not more, than they were. Little me, the girl that was only noticed because of the people she associated with. And here I was, getting _myself_ noticed. Amazing.

I flowed through the rest of the song as well as I could manage. The student body exploded into applause and chanted for more. I laughed nervously, leaned my head forward, and tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear as my lips formed an anxious smile.

"What do you say, Angel in a Blender?" the guitarist asked me, giving me a nickname that was as accurate as you could get. Such a coincidence that he should call me the same thing I'd called myself that one time. "Should we give them another song?"

I bit my lip and looked to the back of the room. All the Cullens, Seth, Leah, Jacob, Ali, and Jade nodded in encouragement. I inhaled sharply and nodded stiffly.

"All right then," the guitarist said. "Let's do this."

My heart raced as I started playing my guitar and singing again. The lyrics to the first song I'd ever written, Born for This, danced out of my mouth.

Three songs later, I was still going strong. My voice was better than usual, but I think that might've been the adrenaline. When the fifth song played its last beat, the room exploded into applause and I almost collapsed on the stage.

"I think that would be enough for one night," I heard Seth say. I turned to my right and saw him standing there, smiling, with one hand extended to me.

"That _is _enough for one night," I agreed, taking a step toward him.

"No problem," Matt, the guitarist, said understandingly. "Let's wrap it up, guys."

I left with Seth and we danced our way over to the back of the room where my eager friends and family were waiting.

"You were amazing!" Rosalie said.

"Absolutely remarkable," Jade chimed in.

"Didn't think you had it in ya, Jazzy," Emmett said, giving me a light punch on the shoulder.

"You've never sung better!"

"How did it feel?"

"Were you nervous?"

"That is so going in the yearbook."

"All right, all right," Alice said once she'd decided that they'd gotten too out of hand. "I think she wants to enjoy the prom like a _normal_ person now, don't you think?"

My friends and family grumbled playfully before dispersing themselves. Alice stayed with us and Jasper didn't look like he was going anywhere without her. Alice wrapped her cold arms around me and pecked my cheek.

"You were great," she said before taking Jasper's hand and twirling away.

"So perky," I muttered as I turned to face Seth again.

"That's Alice," he chuckled as we started dancing to the currently playing song. Fall for You by Secondhand Serenade, one of my favorites. "I figured you'd be used to it after all this time."

"So did I," I said.

We were dancing in the middle of the crowd by now and out of the corner of my eyes, I caught glimpses of Ali and Max staring into each other's eyes as they danced and Jade—oh my gosh—getting her first kiss. I'd need to congratulate her on that. Jacob and Leah moved in a small square, talking and laughing. I was glad they were having a good time. Several guys made attempts to brush Bella, Alice, and Rosalie's arms or sides, but all they received was a death glare from the girls' husbands. I saw Embry staring adoringly at a small, red headed girl who was evidently blushing. Sandra Tilling. The name suited her.

"Scoping the room?" Seth asked, following my eyes.

"Just a little," I admitted, turning my head up to look into his eyes. They swelled with love and kindness. I couldn't imagine ever losing him. His hand which was on the small of my back drew me closer to him, if that was possible.

"I just wanted to let you know," I whispered, "that loving you was the easiest thing I've ever done."

"I bet I had it easier," he challenged.

"I don't even think the imprinting could beat me. After that first day, I talked to Alice about it. I liked you more than I thought I should've, I just felt so safe around you. It wasn't very long before you had me under your spell."

"Funny," he chuckled. "I could say the same about you."

I laid my head on his chest and wrapped my arms tightly and securely around him.

"So, what are we doing next year?" I asked.

"Not sure what you mean, Jazzy."

"College," I clarified.

"Didn't you tell me you got accepted into Harvard?"

I nodded. "But I was mostly wondering what _you_ were doing next year."

Seth shrugged. "I got accepted into Stanford and the University of Alaska, but not Harvard."

"Stanford, you say? I might've sworn I got an acceptance from them this morning."

"Yeah," he agreed. "But, really, Jasmine, you have the opportunity to go to Harvard Law. Didn't you always say that was your dream place to study?"

"I did," I admitted. "But I'd much rather be with you. Harvard can wait."

"Are you sure?" he asked. "This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity for you."

"If I remember correctly, won't we have a second life to live?"

"Because one lifetime isn't long enough to live for you, is it?" he joked.

"No it's not. One lifetime isn't enough time to spend with you, and I'd like to do that as much as possible."

"As do I."

"Anyways," I started. "I think we'll like Stanford. It's one of the leading schools in the country, you know."

"Or we could always still bet on Harvard," he murmured.

"No we can't," I argued. "I won't go if you don't."

"I sent in an admission letter," he said. "I haven't gotten a response yet."

"Hmm. I guess maybe we _can_ still bet on Harvard. You think Alice would be willing to…?"

"Maybe," he grinned, "if you ask her politely."

"I'll try that when we get home," I decided. "And by the way, have you caught a glimpse of your sister tonight?"

"Other than at the Cullens's house, no." Seth looked above the crowd, trying to find Leah. When he did, his jaw dropped and his eyes became wide. "Oh my God…"

"What?" I asked.

Seth chuckled. "I don't think Leah is having any trouble keeping her mouth busy, I'll tell you that much."

I gasped. "No _way_! Jake and Leah they… they… they…" I couldn't exactly continue. "Oh my God. What's gonna happen when Nessie…" I let the sentence trail off.

"My sister will probably go into another 'everyone's a jerk' stage again. I blame her this time, though. She should think things like this through."

"Jake should've thought it through, too," I murmured.

"I'm sure _Jake_ did. He's probably just taking his own advice now; he'd been talking about doing that."

"What do you mean?"

"Jake told Quil a while back that maybe he should start dating again while Claire… matured."

"Oh," I said. "How is Claire?" I decided to ask. "I haven't seen her since she started kindergarten." I'd met Claire during one of my trips to the Reservation. She was like the little sister I'd always wanted. Sure, I had my share of older sisters that I loved, but I'd liked the feeling of being the 'grown-up.' I babysat her when Quil couldn't and we'd grown really close. When she started school, though, Quil and her parents suddenly became much more available and my services were no longer needed.

"She's been doing well, actually. She's growing really fast. And, Quil tells me she's been asking for you."

"Really?" I asked. "I should probably go visit one of these days. Could we go next week, maybe? After graduation?"

"That sounds good," he said. The lights in the room dimmed as Lifehouse's _Hanging by a Moment _started playing at a relatively low volume. Seth spun, dipped and twirled me around the dance floor. Somehow, we ended up outside.

"How does a ride sound right now?" Seth asked me. I bit my lip. I wanted so bad to feel the wind whipping at my skin, running through the trees with Seth. But Alice would probably kill me if anything happened to the dress… Oh well.

"Sounds perfect," I resolved.

"Great," he said. Seth turned around and started walking toward the side of the building. "I'll be right back," he said over his shoulder. As I waited patiently for his return, I sat down on the steps I'd been standing on, put my chin in my hands, and let my mind do what it wanted. The door behind me opened and I was snapped out of my slowly coming fantasies.

"Embry?" I asked, looking back at the door. I contemplated taking off my heels to use as protection if I needed to, but then I remember the imprinting and all feeling of danger escaped me.

"Hi, Jasmine," he said. "I thought I'd find you out here."

"You ditched your date to come find me?"

"She started talking to some girls in there and I decided to come find you to, you know, apologize."

"Embry, didn't you already apologize?"

"Yeah, but not in person. This kind of thing needs to be addressed personally. Look, I can't even say how sorry I am about what happened. I'm not used to being rejected, and I got mad. I should've never done what I did and I really hope that we can still be friends?" He said the last sentence as more of a question than a statement.

"Embry, I already told you, we're okay. And Sandra seems like a pretty cool person. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, Jasmine, because I really, really—"

A low growl cut him off. I turned behind me to see a large, sandy wolf tensed and ready to pounce.

"Seth, Seth," I started, "it's okay. He just wanted to apologize in person. It's okay," I repeated, trying to ease him.

Seth's crouched position evaporated, but I could tell he was still wary. I walked over to him and scratched behind his ear in comfort.

"That's a good dog," I whispered teasingly.

"I… should probably be getting back to Sandra," Embry muttered before going back inside and leaving Seth and me alone.

I very carefully climbed into Seth's back and fastened my arms around his neck. He turned his head back to me, his eyes asking me if I was ready. I ran my hand down the side of his face and smiled in response. He nudged my hand with his nose before facing forward again and starting to run. He went slower at first, but his legs started moving at full speed once we hit the forest.

I clutched onto the fur of his neck tighter and tighter with every second that passed. I looked down at the swiftly passing ground and noticed something black bouncing against Seth's back leg. His tux, perhaps? Huh, I guess that made sense. The reminder of clothes made me freeze. Please, oh please, don't tell me that anything has happened to the dress or—heaven forbid—the shoes. Alice would have me murdered. But first, she'd make me pay for the garment, of course. With one eye closed and the other reluctantly opened, I looked back at the skirt of my dress. It was—thank God—unharmed and still clean. That gave me more confidence to look down at the shoes. Some mud splattered them, but nothing a damp washcloth couldn't fix. I sighed in relief, my breath immediately catching in my throat. We'd been going faster than I thought.

Seth's pace slowed eventually as I started to see an opening in the trees. I tucked my head down into his neck to keep my head from colliding with any branches. The opening became visibly larger as we approached it, and I could clearly see the sun setting beyond my favorite spot in the world aside from Seth's arms—our cliff.

"Is that where we're going?" I whispered, slowly extending one finger to point to the cliff while my other hand still clutched onto him. Seth barked and smiled a wolfy smile, letting me know that his answer was yes. I smiled back and wrapped my other arm around his neck again as more of an embrace than a hold for dear life. When we finally emerged from the trees, Seth came to a full stop. The sky was streaked with pinks, yellows, and oranges. It looked beautiful. Waves crashed against the rocks and a single dolphin jumped at the horizon. It was just like one of those scenes from a romance movie: the view would be a lot more amazing if you didn't have the most amazing person in the world standing at your side.

Seth disappeared into the trees for a moment again to phase back to human. My arms floated to my sides, I closed my eyes, and felt my skirt billow around me. I only noticed Seth's return when his warm arms wrapped around me. His chin rested on my shoulder. I turned my head to one side, parted my lips slightly, and with my eyes still closed, lifted my arms out to the side and pretended that angel wings were attached to them, giving me the ability to fly anywhere—anywhere Seth would go with me, anyway. I wouldn't go anywhere without him at this point.

"I love you so much," he whispered to me. And before I could respond by telling him I loved him too, he continued. "And that is why I have to do this now."

I turned around and tilted my head to the side, not sure of what he meant. I finally understood what was going on when he got down on one knee and pulled a small, black velvet box out of his right pocket. Even though I was isolated from basically all of society for my first sixteen years of living, I knew what this meant. I'd always known what it meant. I'd seen it once when I'd been walking behind the headmistress in the streets, holding her parasol. I'd been moved to tears when the happy woman exclaimed yes as loud as she could and threw her arms around her now-fiancé's neck.

"Stop crying and start walking!" the headmistress had exclaimed. "What are you even good for, Burn?" Yes, even she'd picked up on the ridiculous nickname.

By the time Seth's mouth was open to speak, my eyes were filled to the brim with tears.

"Jasmine," he sighed, "I love you so much more than my own life. You are unspoiled perfection and your heart is the purest of all. You're beauty is unmatchable, inside and out. We're still young, I understand that, and I don't expect this to happen right away. I'll wait years if that's what it takes. I'll make you mine after we graduate from college, if that's what you like, as long as I _will_ make you mine. I have never loved anyone of anything so much as I do you. Jasmine Isabella Cullen, on the spot I first told you how I felt about you, I ask for your hand in marriage. Please, will you marry me?"

His hand carefully flipped the box open and revealed the most beautiful ring I'd ever seen. But I didn't care about the ring; all I cared about was the question he'd just asked me. I couldn't hold back the tears any longer. They rolled slowly down my cheeks. I reached out and put my hand to his cheek.

"There is nothing I would love more than to do so," I whispered. Then, a bit louder, "Yes, Seth I'll marry you."

He smiled up at me and his finger pulled the ring out of its box. Carefully, he slid it onto my finger before standing up, picking me up by the waist, and swirled me around. When he put me on my feet, we kissed a kiss unlike any other we'd ever had. My arms wrapped tightly around his neck, showing him that I never wanted to let him go. And as I lived through one of the happiest moments of my life, somewhere, a pixie-like vampire squealed and almost squeezed the already gone life out of her husband's hand.

* * *

**Author's Note: Yeah... Sorry for the wait, guys. I got caught up in like a million other stuffs. Again, sorry! And, ahem, for that last part, SURPRISE! :D I originally wasn't going to make the engagement itself happen this soon in the story, but after some persuasion from Nayeli (-winkwink- -nudgenudge-) I ended up throwing this on you. ^_^ Again, Nana, if you're reading this, remember what I said over the phone: If I get screwed over cuzza this, I blame you, m'k? K. :D All right, I'm done now. ^^**

**One more thing! Don't forget to press that magic little button under this A/N and review my chappie! I haves a new rule: no new chappie till I get ten reviews, k? So review away, my pretties, review! -evil cackle- Ahem... uh... okay, _now _I'm done. :D**


	5. Chapter 5

After treating me to dinner at the only mildly nice restaurant in La Push, Seth and I arrived home and saw all the cars parked out front. The lights were on inside and I could see the Cullens and werewolves each seated on a chair or on the sofa. All of them—except Alice who was bouncing in her seat with a ridiculous smile on her face—looked confused. I stared down at my ring again with a large smile on my face. I was so glad Alice hadn't told them yet. I needed to break the marvelous, enormous news to my family. I stepped out of the car quickly instead of waiting for Seth to come around to open my door for me.

"Excited?" he chuckled when he saw my facial expression.

"Just a little," I smiled. I entwined my fingers with his and we started up the walk to the front door. I dug around in my bag for my key, but before I could find it, the door was swept open and revealed Alice smiling and jumping up and down. Her eyes fell on the ring that settled on my right hand and her smile never faltered. The eyes of the vampires and werewolves inside did the same. Rosalie, Bella, and Esme were the ones who spoke next.

"Oh…"

"My…"

"God…"

"Oh my God, I've got to tell mom," Leah breathed, shaking her head with an 'oh, wow, this is unbelievable' expression on her face. I smirked. This wasn't how I imagined they would find out, but it was sure a lot funnier.

Before I could blink, Esme was in front of me, taking my hand in hers and looking at the ring from all sides. Rosalie was ushering me in and Leah was shaking her head in disbelief.

"Engaged, are you?" Edward laughed once we were inside. "Congrats Jazzy, Seth." He nodded in our direction.

"Welcome to the family, bro," Emmett chuckled, punching Seth lightly on the shoulder.

"Congratulations to the both of you," Carlisle said, embracing us both at once. "I want you to know that we're all very happy for you."

"And would you look at that ring!" Alice squealed, picking my hand up and holding the ring to the light.

"It's simply stunning!" Rosalie chimed.

"Beautiful," Bella sighed.

"Mom, you'll never believe what just happened," Leah said into the receiver of her cell phone. I rolled my eyes. Typical Leah; such a gossip.

"Leah, let me talk to mom," Seth chuckled as he walked over to his sister and took the phone out of her hands. "Hey, Mom, guess whose advice I finally took."

"Jasmine, you're getting _married_?!" Nessie asked, galloping down the stairs. I could hear in her voice the true four year old in her.

"Oh, wow, nice," Jacob laughed, coming down the stairs after his imprint. "That's great for you guys."

"Jasmine," Seth said, walking over to me, "my mom wants to talk to you."

I smiled and gladly took the phone from his hands. Sue had come to love me like another daughter within the past years and she'd very recently started trying to push the subject of marriage on Seth and me.

"Hello?" I asked when the phone was at my ear.

"Jasmine!" Sue exclaimed loudly enough to momentarily cause the dysfunction of my right ear. "I've been waiting for you and Seth to announce this news to me since the day I met you! Congratulations!"  
"Thank you so much, Sue," I sighed as Seth put one arm around me. "That means a lot."

"You'll have to show me that ring. I haven't seen it. I didn't even know this was coming! Oh, he should've told me."

"Don't worry," I joked. "I barely found out today, too."

Sue laughed. "Well, I'm sure the Cullens are all over you right now so I'll let you both be. Congratulations, again."

"And thanks again. Bye, now." I closed the phone and handed it back to Leah. I wrapped both my arms around Seth and rested the side of my head on his chest.

"Seth!" Leah whined. "You should've told me!"

"I wanted to surprise everyone," he chuckled.

"Where did you get the money for an eight carat diamond ring?" Alice asked, moving my hand gently from side to side to see the ring in different angles.

"Eight carat?" I gasped. "That's so much. You didn't have to, Seth, really—"

"I wish I could've gotten something bigger, actually," he said. "You deserve a ring and beautiful and flawless as you are, but I'm sure it doesn't exist. I just got the best one I could afford."

"But that's just it!" Rosalie exclaimed. "How on Earth could you afford this? It must have cost you a fortune! You should've told us! We could've helped pay it. Hell, we could've paid for it!"

"It's so pretty," Renesmee sighed. "Just like you, Jazzy!"

"Yeah, dude, how'd you work up the cash?" Emmett asked, raising his eyebrows as he studied the rock.

"I've been saving up money over the years," Seth shrugged.

"Oh no," I murmured. "Please, please, _please_ tell me that money did not come out of your college fund, Seth."

"Well…" He let the sentence trail off.

"Seth!" I exclaimed, ripping my hand from the grasps of several vampires and two werewolves. "You shouldn't have!"

"But he did," Alice said. "And anyway, who needs a college fund when they have a full scholarship into Harvard?" She tossed a manila envelope at Seth. "I'd been meaning to give you this. Dug it out of your mail a few days ago. Hope you don't mind."

"You still shouldn't have," I muttered as he opened the letter.

"Well what do you know," he gasped. "Looks like I don't need the remainder of that college fund anymore."

"Remainder?" Edward asked. "You had some left over after buying that ring? How much did you have to _begin_ with?"

Seth shrugged. "I had about nine grand in there."

"How the hell…?" Emmett asked, bemused.

"Yeah, Seth, jeez," Leah said, surprised. "How the hell did you get nine grand?"

"Remember how you got paid thirty bucks every two hours by Mom to babysit me when I was a kid?"

"Yeah."

"Well, mom paid me sixty to put up with it."

"What the… ugh! You got sixty?! Dammit!"

"Leah!" Bella snapped, covering Nessie's ears. "You're language!"

"Right, right, sorry, sorry," Leah apologized.

"That's still not enough to get that much money, though," Alice said, probably having done the math in her head.

"A few part time jobs helped. Mom did, too. You'd be surprised at how much money I can get for doing things she doesn't want to. And remember, Leah, when that ridiculously rich family lived across the street from us? I babysat for them. Fifty dollars an hour, eight hours a day, seven days a week started to add up. When they moved away after three months of living there, I don't even remember how much money I'd earned."

"Wow," Emmett gasped.

"So what are you thinking for the wedding?" Alice asked. "I saw a lovely little church on a wide cliff overlooking the ocean the other day in Bellingham the other day. It was such a cute little thing, so quaint, like something out of a movie…"

Alice's voice became faster and faster. I couldn't even guess her words and I thought no one else could, either, until Bella, Nessie, and Rosalie started talking at the same speed—if not faster—with her. Not long after did Leah join them, not talking as fast but still impossible to recognize. How could they even _understand_ each other?

As I was swarmed with questions that were in need of answering, my eyes searched the room. Jasper was standing by the stairs, looking down at his feet and shaking his head. His lips parted slightly for half a second before he flew up the stairs.

"Excuse me," Alice whispered, excusing herself from the room and conversation—which had only faltered for a millisecond before starting up again.

"We'll need to get you a dress," Bella said, slow enough for me to comprehend.

"Something beautiful!" Nessie giggled.

"Something extravagant!" Rosalie chimed.

"It has to be elegant," Leah decided. Emmett, Edward, and Jacob rolled their eyes at them before walking over to the couch and turning on a football game.

I heard something break upstairs. It sounded like a glass vase being thrown on the ground. Oh my gosh, what was going on?

The girls' eyes fluttered to the stairs for a moment before returning to their rambling. I looked up at Seth and he looked down at me. He looked as confused as I felt.

"Excuse me," I murmured. I stretched up and gave Seth a short but passionate kiss before making my way upstairs as silently as I could manage, ignoring the ignorant and immature whoops and cheers of Edward, Emmett, and Jacob.

I tiptoed down the hallway and covered my ears when I heard something else break loudly again. It was coming from Alice and Jasper's room. I stood with my back to the door, listening to their voices through the small crack that was left open.

"Jasper, please calm down," Alice was saying. "Please, don't break anything else. And also, please stop trying to mess with my emotions right now, you can't make me angry. This moment is a really happy one for me and for my daughter. The least you could do is congratulate them."

"How can you possible expect me to be happy here, Alice? How? Tell me, how? How can I be happy that my eighteen year old adoptive daughter is getting married?!" Another glass item hit the ground with such force; I could've sworn I felt the ground move. I tried to hold back the gasp that was threatening to come out. Jasper and Alice hadn't fought once in all the years I'd lived here and suddenly they were fighting because of _me_?! Oh my gosh… I had never heard Jasper this upset. Tears came to my eyes like they always did when I was faced with such an unpleasant situation.

"Jasper, Jasper, quiet! She is right outside…"

"I don't care, Alice! She is eighteen years old! You cannot possibly let her go through with this! Do you want her to end up like Bella? Do you want Jasmine to be pregnant at eighteen? Is that what you want, Alice? Is it?" A low growl floated up the stairs at his words, but I ignored it. Was he really worried that I would…? Oh, Dad…

"Of course not, Jasper, you know that. And anyway, we both know this is different. Seth said he would wait. She can go to college, Jasper, she can graduate. Tell me, Jasper, are you really not happy that your daughter—adoptive or not—is going to get married? Is that the truth?"

Jasper sighed heavily. "Jasmine?" he called. "Can you come in here, please?"

"Careful with the broken glass," Alice warned as I stepped inside the room. The floor was splattered with a pattern made up of clear, red, and blue glass. My hand covered my mouth in astonishment as I stepped over the shards. As soon as I was close enough, Jasper took me into a large hug.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I'm happy for you, I swear it, I am. I can't say how glad I am that you have Seth in your life and that he makes you happy. I just can't bear to give my little girl away yet. Not yet, not now." The tears spilled over, he was sounding just like I knew a real dad would because he cared for me like a real daughter. And I loved him like a real dad, so I said what I would've said to my real dad.

"I'll always be your little girl," I said. "But even little girls have to grow up sometime. Unless, of course, you're Alice." I smirked at Alice and she smiled at me before walking closer to us. Jasper put one of his arms around her and she wrapped her arms around us both.

"That's what I keep thinking," Jasper sighed. "A fact that depresses me."

"I'm not getting married tomorrow," I reminded him. "But even if I was, we'll always be eternally close, like a family should be, only more literally. I promise you both; I'll wait until we graduate from college to take this step. It will be hard for Seth and me, I can guarantee that, but if he loves me like I think he does, he'll wait, too. Please, just let me know that you'll support me now, because I need it. I've never been so happy, but I've never been so stressed either. Graduation, college, wedding, it's enough to put anyone in a frenzy."

"We'll always support you, Jasmine," Jasper whispered. "Every moment of every day, we'll support you."

"I love you, Dad," I said.

"I love you, too," he answered.

"I love you, Mom."

"Love you, too," Alice smiled. They both kissed the top of my head before exiting the room to get a broom to clean up the mess. I was instructed to stay where I was so I wasn't at risk of cutting my feet. So there I stood, inspecting the blank walls of Alice and Jasper's room. I really hoped Alice had gone all out to decorate so I'd have something to study, but no. White bed, white carpet, white desk, white walls, nothing interesting. My eyes stopped on a picture frame hanging on the wall. I squinted to get a better look at it.

It was a picture from out vacation last year. We'd all gone to a private island that the Cullens owned so that they could go out in the sun and enjoy the summer like anyone else would. All of us were in it, all of us caught off guard, all except for Esme who'd set up the camera in the first place. The Cullens were all sparkling brightly in the sun of the island, outshining the rest of us in the most literal sense of the word.

Rosalie was leaning away from Emmett who was shaking his hair out after a swim. Bella, Edward, Jacob, and Renesmee were turned away from the camera. Half of Nessie's face was visible as she tossed a blue shell to Bella who had her hand held out for it to put it inside Nessie's 'shell bag.' Leah was throwing a handful of sand at Jasper and Alice, who by the look of it had thrown some at her first. And behind everyone else were Seth and I. I had my arms wrapped around his neck while his arms pulled me close to him. I blushed and smiled up at him as he smiled down at me. From the look in our eyes, anyone could tell that we were madly in love.

Without thinking what I was doing, I stepped toward the picture. Stupid me, I forgot about the broken glass. The pain shot through my foot, up my leg, and pierced every inch of my spine. I bit my lip so hard; I tasted blood, as if I needed more of that in a house of vampires. I looked down at the pool of blood at my feet and cursed. I heard several snarls rip from the throats of thirsty Cullens downstairs. It wasn't long before Seth came bursting through the door. Alice was right behind him, holding back thirsty yet guilty looking Jasper. Seth rushed over to me—not worrying about the glass—and pushing my body behind his.

"Alice," Jasper growled through his teeth. "Don't let me get near her." Despite his own words, he fought to get out of Alice's grasp. He inhaled deeply once and my first thought was 'oh crap, I'm dead,' but that one breath seemed to calm him. He stopped struggling and let himself go limp against his wife. She released her iron hold on him and he straightened up.

"Jasmine," he sighed. "I am… so sorry about that. I promise it won't happen again."

I sucked in a strained breath. "S'ok," I said through clenched teeth, trying not to scream. The pain was becoming unbearable.

"Rosalie!" Alice screamed. "Come clean up the mess, please!"  
Before I could blink, Rosalie was sweeping up the mess at my feet and—holding her breath—wiping up my blood.

"Sorry, Rose," I whispered to her.

"It's okay," she said, biting down on her lip. "I got it."

When the muddle was cleaned up, Carlisle came into the room with a first aid kit. I slipped my shoe off very carefully before removing my sock of my injured foot. He examined the wound very carefully as I bit down on my lip and squeezed Seth's hand, both to keep from screaming.

"Breath," Seth whispered several times, each time after he kissed my cheek.

"You were very lucky," Carlisle said, pulling the single piece of glass out of my foot and putting a thick towel to the gash to clot the bleeding. "It's a clean, side injury. It could've been a lot worse." He removed the now red towel after a minute. And oh and behold, the blood had stopped rushing out. Carlisle took a roll of gauze out of the kit and proceeded to wrap the appropriate amount around the cut, which had by then stopped stinging.

"There we go," he said with a smile in my direction. "All better."

"Thank you, Carlisle," I said, smiling back at him.

"Not a problem," he said. "Just try not to walk on it too much, okay? We don't want it swelling."

"I can take care of that," Seth smiled, swooping me up into his arms and carrying me bridal style to the door.

"G'night everyone!" I called, laughing.

I heard Jasper—of course—start to say something, but Alice cut him off.

"Jasper!" she snapped. I giggled.

"Whoa, where are we going?" Leah chuckled when we ran into her in the hallway.

"None of your business," I joked. "Anyway, how was the _kiss_?"

Leah glared at me—the death glare—and I cringed into Seth.

"Well… well… ugh! Well, at least I'm not the one who's engaged!"

"Oh come on," Seth pressed jokingly. "You've gotta tell us. You and Jacob? Come on, how can you expect us to _not _be curious?"

"Yeah, Leah, spill!" I said.

Leah gave an exasperated sigh. "I am not good with girl talk!" Then she stormed off. I broke into a huge round of laughter.

"She's so funny sometimes," I laughed.

"Only when she doesn't try," Seth chuckled.

We were in my room by then. The wall in front of my bed was decorated with a large canopy of flowers and ribbons. In large red letters, the word 'Congratulations!' was written.

"Alice," I groaned.

"You're welcome!" she called from somewhere in the house. I rolled my eyes.

Seth and I stood at the edge of my bed, staring into each others eyes. Slowly, he leaned down to kiss my lips. My hands wove into his hair and I pulled myself up, crushing my mouth to his. Eventually, he pulled away. Both of us were breathless.

"Jasmine, it's midnight. Are you tired at all?" he chuckled as he laid me down lightly on my back.

"Not at all," I laughed. "I'm too happy to be tired."

Seth laughed. "Try saying that tomorrow."

I cocked my head to the side.

"You do realize what next Friday is, right?"

"Friday, Friday," I repeated the name of the day, trying to figure out what could happen. "Oh crap. Graduation, Alice, shopping, crap."

He laughed at me as he started walking toward the door. "I knew you'd figure it out. Anyway, I don't think Alice is planning to let you stay home the weekend before graduation when there are so many malls in the world."

"Oh, how I wish you weren't right," I grumbled. "And where are you going?"

He turned around. "I figured I'd give you some privacy so you could get changed."

"No, stay!" I called, my voice desperate. I didn't want to be so far apart from him. "I'll just change in the closet."

"As you wish," he said, bowing to me as if I was a queen.

I laughed. "Be right back," I called behind my shoulder as I slipped into my humongous closet. No matter how many times I walked inside it, I never got used to how unnecessarily and unnaturally huge it was.

My hands pulled on the knob of one of the many drawers to open it. I slipped on the first pain of pajamas I saw—blue spaghetti strap shirt, long pants, decorated with cherries. Since I didn't feel like going through the killer task of brushing out all the insane tangles in my hair the next morning, I tugged on it with a hairbrush and put it up in a high ponytail before walking back into my room. Seth was sitting on the edge of my bed in a pair of grey sweatpants. He smiled at me. I tried to smile back, but an arising yawn was faster.

"So, talking about Alice and shopping made you tired, did it?" he laughed

"Sure," I yawned. "Let's go with that."

I sat down in his lap and he cradled me against him.

"You knew they were going to make me sing, didn't you?" I asked accusingly.

"Well, of course I did," he admitted shamelessly.

"Well, you should've told me," I countered.

"Didn't want to."

"And why not?"

"It would ruin the surprise."

"You're so evil sometimes."

"Yes, Jasmine, I'm the evil one. But the girl who enjoys running off to meet a clan of non-vegetarian vampires and leaving me behind isn't." Drat, he was never going to let me forget that. "Yes, yes, that makes perfect sense."

"Thanks for seeing the logic."

He chuckled and ruffled my hair. With his arm around me, we laid down on the bed and turned to face the large window-slash-back wall. The stars were bright over the dark forest and Seth pointed at a familiar group of stars.

The Archer.

"Remember that?" he asked me.

"How could I forget," I answered, smiling slightly and putting my hand over the pink shell at my throat.

I followed the Archer's arrow, expecting to find the lonely star. But no, not this time. There was another star next to it. They were so close together, they might've been one. I smiled, knowing exactly what these stars reminded me of. Instinctively, I snuggled into Seth.

"You should sleep," he said, adjusting his arms to make me more comfortable. "You've got a long day ahead of you."

I groaned. "Don't remind me." I pulled the covers over my head, then back down when they started to suffocate me.

"I love you," I whispered before I closed my eyes.

"And, as always, I love you, too."

I closed my eyes then, preparing myself for what was probably the best sleep of my life. But, sadly, it also felt like the shortest. It seemed that seconds later, I was being dragged out of bed by an over enthusiastic vampire who seemed to only know three words.

"We're going shopping!" she squealed.

I groaned.


	6. Chapter 6

_I'm late, I'm late, I'm late, I'm freaking late._

That was the only thing going through my head as I ran down the street. I was running steady and fast, but not fast enough.

I wished I hadn't offered to go back to the Clearwater house and get the necklace Leah had forgotten. Alice or Bella could've gone and been back in less than a minute but _no_, I just had to open my mouth and say, "Oh, no, guys, it's okay. I can go. I'll be back before you'll notice I'm gone." And now, I was late for graduation.

Up ahead, I could see the large crowd of parents and students on the grassy field outside of the high school. Alice—who'd been doing all she could to prepare the event—had "seen a weather forecast" predict sun for the day and so the graduation was held outside. And, at the moment, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. In fact, it was steaming hot. The black graduation gown was attracting all the sun and I was sweating bullets under the plastic-like fabric.

Well, I thought, at least this black sag worked for something. Without it, the Cullens would've had to skip graduation—or, the vampire Cullens, anyway. The hat shaded their faces from the light when kept at the right angle and their hands were the only things visible, which didn't draw much attention.

I stopped for a second to catch my breath. Jade was rising from her seat to give her speech as the year's valedictorian. I clapped as loudly as I could manage while gasping for breath.

"This has been a great year for the La Push High School and we gather here today to ready ourselves for the next stepping stone in our life…" Her voice floated over the heads of people as she continued speaking. I decided to seat myself under a shady tree to rest. After all, it was no where near my turn yet. My chest was still heaving and my lungs pulsed, but I felt good, just like I always did after I ran. I stared up into the branches of the tree, moving slightly even though there was absolutely no breeze. Something black fell down through some of the leaves, but it quickly disappeared back into them. I didn't pay much attention to it. I was sure not more than five minutes had passed, but apparently a lot more than that had passed.

"Ali Banter," the principal said. Ali walked forward, took her diploma, and shook his hand before proceeding to walk off the stage.

"Jacob Black," he said. Jacob walked forward and repeated the same scene Ali had just been through. Oh crap, there was no way I could make it with only six more people before it was my turn. I jumped up quickly from my spot on the floor and calculated in my head how far it was from where I stood to my designated place in line. Ugh, there was no way I could possibly make it. My legs were too sore to keep running at the speed I'd been running before, which would have been the only way I could've made it. I turned my head and saw a guy—about twenty or so—leaning against another tree trunk with a skateboard in his hands. A crazy idea came into my head, but it would have to work.

"Hey!" I called. He turned to look at me. "Can I borrow that?"

"What, the skateboard?" he asked. I nodded. "Sure, no problem. What do you need it for?"

I nodded over to the line.

"Ah," he said, handing me the board. "You'll make it with this, trust me. Just bring it back when you're done."

"No problem." I put the skateboard on the floor and put one foot on it before making myself move by pushing off with the other. "Thanks!" I called over my shoulder.

I held my arms out to balance myself and prayed that I wouldn't fall. I'd never ridden a skateboard before—no, correction: I'd never ridden a skateboard _well _before. Every second, I got closer and closer to the line—closer and closer to Alice's glare, probably something to do with me riding a skateboard in a two thousand dollar dress. I looked down at the hem—it was still sparkly and blue with not a sign of grass stain or mud. I was proud of myself; this was better than I'd ever done. When I was a foot away from the line, I jumped off the skateboard and picked it up in my hand. I walked the rest of the way and settled myself in my spot between Emmett and Jasper. Emmett snickered.

"So, you jacked that guy's skateboard?" he laughed.

"No, I actually asked permission this time," I answered.

"Alice is going to kill you for doing that in her dress," Jasper whispered.

"I know, I know," I sighed. "Leah!" She turned around and I tossed her the necklace. She fastened it around her neck, mouthed "Thank you" in my direction, both just in time for her name to be called.

"Leah Clearwater," the principal announced. Leah walked toward him, took her diploma, and shook his hand. I applauded along with everyone else in line and in the crowd.

"Seth Clearwater." Applause—especially from me.

A thin shear of light shot up in my face and I looked down at my precious ring. I'd worn it every single day—even to school. No one had asked about it, but I hadn't been so oblivious to the world that I hadn't heard the whispers and noticed the stares. I didn't care, though. If Rosalie hadn't convinced me that announcing I was engaged in high school would make label me an 'eternal whore,' I probably would've screamed it.

Alice's name was called, then Bella's, Edward's, Emmett's, and finally mine.

"Jasmine Isabella Cullen," Principal Keller said. He handed me my diploma and my heart swelled as I shook his hand. I'd done it, I'd graduated. Finally.

I looked out into the crowd. My eyes fell on the smiling faces of Carlisle and Esme, standing in the very back under the black shadow of a tree. We'd tried to convince them not to come—not to endanger the secret—but they wouldn't hear of it.

As I started to walk off stage, I noticed six black figures sitting high in the trees. The Cullens and werewolves noticed it too. We all froze.

The Volturi.

What were they doing here?! I found the will to move my legs to continue down the steps to take my seat next to my family. Jasper and Rosalie's names were called next and they carefully made their way over to the chairs. Jasper and Emmett each put one arm around me and Jasper used his power to try and relax me. It didn't work.

A piece of paper landed in my lap. I stopped clenching Jasper's hand long enough to unfold the small article. It was a note scrawled in messy handwriting.

_It's going to be okay_. The words were written, and I could almost hear the person they belonged to whispering them in my ear. _They won't hurt you. I won't let them. It'll all be over soon, I swear. I love you._ I didn't need the note to be signed to know who it was from. I looked behind the heads of the people separating me and Seth. He was looking my way, too. I strained a smile and blew him a kiss, hoping he didn't notice the tear that was sliding down my cheek.

I tried to smile and cheer for my friends, but every time I opened my mouth, a loud sob escaped my throat. (Yes, I cry when I'm scared.) My werewolf friends were all wary as they stood to take their diplomas. They tried to smile encouragingly in my direction, but all failed. They were the protectors after all. When Jade came up, I tried so hard to root and clap for her—she was my best friend, after all—but my cheer came out as a rather odd croak that made several people turn to stare. She smiled at me, letting me know it was okay if I wasn't up to being exactly perky, but her eyes told me that she wasn't sure why this was. I pressed my lips together and forced the corners of my mouth to turn up. As she walked on her way to her seat, she patted my leg and gave me a quick hug before hurrying along her way.

I leaned forward to look down at Alice. She looked so helpless and frustrated, I just wanted to go over and give her a hug. Her face looked like it should've had tears on it.

"She didn't see this coming, did she?" I whispered to Jasper.

He shook his head solemnly. "I'm afraid she didn't. She's so upset with herself; I can feel her depression coming off in large, strong waves. I can't bear seeing her this distressed. We can only pray that this will all be over soon."

Time ticked by slowly, as if it was trying to piss me off. When it was finally over, when ever student had received their diploma, the principal voiced his wishes for all of us.

"My wish is that all my students use the skills and knowledge placed in them at this fine school to make their next steps in life firm and well so that their future will be bright." I gulped—if I _had_ a future after today. "Congratulations class of 2008, you've made me proud."

Cheers exploded from the entire audience. I forced myself to clap and smile—this was a big day for me, might as well make the best of it. When the graduation caps were thrown, the applause grew louder. I couldn't help but laugh when my cap landed lopsidedly on my head. I reached up to adjust it, my smile not yet faded. Then I caught sight of Jasper's grim face and my own expression started to mirror his.

"You should go give back that skateboard you borrowed," he whispered to me. "We'll deal with the Volturi until you get back."

I hugged him tightly before walking over to where I'd left the skateboard. I picked it up and started walking, my eyes on the ground. Having not been noticing where I was going, I bumped into someone.

"There's my skateboard," the guy I'd borrowed it from laughed. I looked up at him. He was stall with dirty blonde hair, electric blue eyes, and freckles.

"Yeah, here you go." I handed it to him. "Thanks a lot, um…" I said, trying to remember if he'd told me his name.

"Matt," he said. We shook hands. "And your name is Jasmine?" he asked. I nodded. He must've been paying attention when they called my name. "Listen, you wanna go get something to eat? I know this great place down by First Beach and—"

"Ready to go, Jazzy?" Thank God, it was Seth. He smiled down at me and put his arm protectively around my shoulder. It didn't take much effort to see that he wasn't protecting me from Matt—I could see out of the corner of my eye the Cullens speaking with Aro and Caius, trying to reason with them.

"As long as I'll go there with you," I said to Seth. Yes, I'll admit it; I was trying to make Matt feel as awkward as possible for hitting on me. I snorted internally. I'd been doing that a lot lately. But really, it was just funny for people to hit on my when I'm engaged. That fact made it much more enjoyable for Seth and me. Matt's eyes studied the both of us and eventually, he saw the ring. His eyes bugged out and his mouth dropped open.

"Congratulations," he murmured before walking away, his shoulders slumped. Usually, this would be our cue to start laughing, but not today. Seth squeezed me.

"It'll be okay," he whispered in my ear. "Don't worry, you'll be fine." He pecked my cheek and I inhaled deeply—oh how I wished he was right.

We walked slowly over to where my family stood—arguing in hushed tones, pretending to be oblivious to the crowd whispering about them.

"Why, Jasmine, look at how much you've grown!" Aro declared when he saw me, false kindness sprinkled over his words.

"I've only grown about half a centimeter since you last saw me, Aro," I said, setting my face in stone. I wouldn't let myself be scared of him—I _wasn't _scared of him. Not for the time being, anyway.

"Well, isn't that odd. You look so grown up. And what is this?" He picked up my hand and I flinched away from his cold touch. His eyes studied the stone on my finger. "Is this an engagement ring, young Jasmine? Oh, you _do _take after Miss Isabella quite a bit, now don't you? Who is the lucky fellow?"

"That would be me," Seth said. Despite the situation, the usual pride that seeped into his voice when he said that wasn't absent.

"The werewolf?" Aro gasped, clearly amused. "Well, that certainly _is _a twist. I offer my sincerest congratulations to the happy couple. And just look at that ring! My, oh, my does it sparkle beautifully!"

I pulled my hand away from Aro and looked up at him through angry eyes. I could almost feel the fire that burned in them. "What are you doing here?" I demanded.

"Why, we're here for the big show, of course!" Felix stated, coming up behind Aro. Aro clapped his hands once in a sick, twisted version of delight.

"I can't say I know what you mean, Felix," I practically growled. I felt the awed stares of my family piercing my back. I heard their gasps. Yes, yes, small, defenseless Jasmine Cullen was exasperating the Volturi. I was surprised, too.

"Come now, Jasmine," Jane smiled, coming toward me. "Surely you know what day this is." I felt Bella's hand on my arm. Please let her be using her shield on me. I didn't want to feel Jane's wrath here and now, when I was finally building up my strength.

"Yes, of course I do. It's my graduation day, Jane," I said with false politeness.

"Then you must remember the promise you have made, Jasmine," she sneered. She was concentrating hard on me— probably trying to make me drop to the floor in pain. But Bella's shield was too strong for her. Eventually her body relaxed and I could tell she knew there was no way she could hurt me. "We even brought Alec to see if we could make the experience more pleasant for you."

"I still cannot say I know what you mean, Jane, dear," I smiled.

"You must know what we mean," Caius laughed. I hadn't noticed him there until he spoke.

I groaned. "I don't believe a guessing game is very much appropriate for the situation at hand." I was surprised at how mature and confident I sounded. It was even more amazing that I felt that way, too. There wasn't an ounce of fear in my body as I stretched up on my toes to look Caius in the face. He smiled and patted my head rather roughly.

"She is a feisty child," Alec laughed as he rested one elbow on his twin sister's shoulder.

"May I remind you that you and your sister are physically six years younger than me?" I shot back at him. His cruel, laughing face twisted into a fierce grimace.

"Too bad for you, those years are made up hundreds of times over in intelligence and life experience," he growled.

"Let's take this conversation somewhere with less spectators, shall we?" Carlisle interceded, stepping between us, facing the Volturi.

"That would be wise. How about your residence, Carlisle?" I didn't recognize the voice that spoke. It came from a tall, red headed woman standing behind Aro. I hadn't remembered seeing her before, but her voice made me know she was evil.

"Splendid idea, my dear Chelsea," Aro said, clapping his hands. "Let us be on our way."

"Aro, Aro," Alice said, lightly grabbing his shoulder. "I don't think you should do that here. There are humans present. Walk at a human pace until you hit the forest. You'll be able to trace our scent from there back to our house. Go."

Aro nodded and they all put on the hoods of their cloaks. Slowly, they turned around and started walking. The moment they were out of my line of sight, my calm mask deteriorated and I would've fallen to my knees if Alice and Seth hadn't had caught me. I was shaking as Alice let go of me and Seth pulled me closer to him. His lips touched my hair as he whispered reassuring words.

"Hey, Jasmine?" I would know that innocent, Vietnamese accent anywhere. I lifted my head from Seth's chest and wiped my eyes with my shaking hand.

"Hi, Jade." My voice was shaking as much as my body was as I spoke to her. I felt my cheeks get redder than they already were and my now-dry eyes became moist again. I was just about to apologize for being so sad, but Jade's arms wrapped around me before I could open my mouth.

"It'll be okay," she whispered. "Whatever it is, I swear it'll be okay." She softly pushed me back into Seth's arms. I wrapped my arms around him again and buried my head in his chest.

"Thank you," I murmured to her, barely audible. "You're an amazing friend."

She touched my back lightly. "Seth, please make sure she'll be all right. I don't know what's going on—and I don't think she'll ever tell me—but I want to know that you'll be with her. You will be with her."

"I will, Jade. Thank you for caring so much about her," he replied solemnly.

"I'm glad she has such an amazing family to look after her." Jade leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Call me when the wedding date is set. I wouldn't miss it for the world." I could almost see her smiling face. Then, I heard her walk away.

"She's such a sweet girl," Esme sighed.

"Indeed," Jasper agreed.

"We should get a move on," Bella stated. "Leah, Seth, if you take off now, we'll get to the house at about the same time. Jacob, please pick up Nessie from my dad's place. She'd want to support Jasmine today."

"On it," Jacob and Leah said. Jacob soon disappeared into the same forest the Volturi had gone into. Leah had started walking that way, too, but she looked back at her brother, who was still holding me close.

"I won't leave her," he said.

"Seth," Rosalie snarled. "We'll take care of her. She's safer under our protection anyway. Let her go."

For a second, I thought Seth was either going to punch Rose in the face or disobey, but his arms soon loosened around me. He didn't let go until Emmett and Edward each were holding on to one of my elbows to balance me.

"C'mon, Seth," Emmett chuckled (without humor, I might add), "You know we won't let anything happen to her."

"I'll see you soon," Seth whispered in my ear. He kissed my cheek before following his sister into the woods.

I looked around at the people gathered around us. They were all whispering the things they thought were going on. I ignored them—they weren't worth the strength I desperately needed at the moment.

"Let's get going," Edward said. "Don't worry, Jasmine, they won't hurt you."

Of course. Every single time the Volturi was associated with me, they were going to hurt me.

"Let me take her," Alice said. Then, barely audible, "I need to be with my daughter now."

Alice's arms slipped under me and I let my body go limp in her arms. I buried my face in her shoulder and I could feel her start walking. She was walking fast—as I guessed all the Cullens were—but still at a human pace. I could feel it when we were under the canopy of forest trees. That was when the Cullens started running.

I'd thought Seth ran fast. That was absolutely nothing compared to this. The speed the Cullens possessed was something I'd never come close to experiencing. The air sliced at my arms and cheeks like a sharp knife—trying to make me bleed. Too bad I had six vampires waiting for me at my own house willing to do the same.

"Get ready," I heard Carlisle mutter. I looked up from Alice's shoulder just long enough to see that we were approaching the house. I could faintly see the outlines of five cloaked vampires inside—the sixth one was pacing.

Seth and Leah were right behind us, still in wolf form, as we slowed to a walk on the lawn which was—much to my surprise—still wet with last night's rain. We all completely stopped when we reached the front door. I wasn't sure if we were waiting for them to come outside or if it was pure hesitation.

Suddenly, everyone was switching places. Carlisle and Esme positioned themselves in front. Bella and Edward were behind them, Rosalie standing just to the side of Bella. Jacob—who had just arrived with Renesmee—and Leah stood behind them. Emmett stood not that far back from them. Nessie ran up to me and threw her arms around my waist. I could hear her tears.

"We won't let them hurt you," she cried. "You'll be safe! I promise!"

"Nessie, sweetie, get behind me," I said, trying to push her behind me.

"No, Jasmine," she said, lifting one hand to wipe her tears. "I don't need protection now. _You_ do." And with that, she turned around, clenched her fists, and—bless her little heart—stood protectively in front of me. Jasper and Alice each held one of her tiny hands as they stood next to her. Seth's warm arm pressed against mine and we entwined our fingers.

And with that, Esme reached out to turn the knob on the door and we marched into a house where they were vampires simply feeling the need to kill me.


	7. Chapter 7

The door creaked open painfully slow. Soon, we all marched into the house.

"Took you long enough," Jane announced, exasperated, when we were all inside. The Cullens were being very careful to have me completely obscured from the Volturi's view. I didn't want them protecting me. For once, I wanted to protect myself.

Slowly, I loosened my hold on Seth's hand. Alice tried to stop me from walking forward, but her arm dropped when Aro smiled at me.

"Yes, dear, come hither," he smiled.

My face expressionless and my outlook unafraid, I stepped forward.

"Now, Aro, would you mind telling me why you decided to intrude on our graduation?" I asked.

"My dear, intrude is such a harsh word. We simply decided to come and visit you, Jasmine. And, of course, none of us wanted to miss the show. As Jane has ever so kindly pointed out, we even brought Alec to make the experience less uncomfortable for you."

"Aro, please," I practically snarled. "Stop with the games. Why. Are. You. Here."

"Now, Jasmine, unclench those pretty hands of yours and make your tone kinder. There is no need to get angry."

Reluctantly, I did as he said and returned to my composed stature.

"For heaven's sake, Aro, the girl is right!" Felix huffed. "On with it!"

"Yes, Aro, honestly," the one called Chelsea sneered. "We've wasted enough time on guessing games. As Felix has ever so kindly said, on with it!"

"Humph," Aro scoffed. "A feisty bunch, they are. Surely, Jasmine, you must remember our little compromise."

I rolled my eyes. "Get to the point," I muttered.

Aro smiled evilly. "Remember, Jasmine? The compromise that is keeping us from destroying you?"

I froze. It all clicked together at that instant. I felt Alice and Rosalie—who I had been standing in very close proximity to—stop moving. It didn't feel or sound like anyone in the room was breathing, not even me. All six members of the Volturi present smiled cruelly.

"Do you recall now, Jazzy?" Jane hissed.

I gulped. "Yes, Jane, I believe I do," I said. My voice came out as a squeak.

"Are you ready now then?" she asked, clearly impatient. "We're immortal, but we haven't got eternity to waste."

I gulped again. No, I wasn't ready to become a vampire. Not yet, not now. I was going to go to college soon. I couldn't do that as a newborn. Even if I learned to control my thirst like Bella had, if I stayed strong like Carlisle had, if I simply fed off animals to keep myself steady like my entire family had, none of that would be enough so that I could sit in an extremely crowded classroom everyday, seven days a week, hours at a time, surrounded by soft, warm, breakable, blood-filled human bodies without going insane.

"No," I whispered.

"No?!" Felix growled.

"No?" Aro mused.

"No?!" Jane snarled.

"No!" Alec rumbled.

"She said no," Chelsea said, shaking her head.

Aw, crap, now I'd done it. You don't say no to the Volturi. You don't piss off the Volturi.

I'd just done both.

I closed my eyes tight and clenched my hands, expecting the worst. I thought the hand that patted my head was going to tear it off and the nails I felt at my neck were going to stab me, letting my blood run free. But, no, neither of those things happened.

"But, Jasmine, we had an agreement," Aro argued gently. "Either you are changed after your graduation or you become a meal."

"Well," I said, "I changed my mind."

Something cold and hard smacked me across the face then. The force sent me flying sideways into the wall. I was surprised the slap hadn't knocked my head off. Two seconds hadn't passed before I was sobbing in pain.

"Insolent girl!" Aro cried.

"You don't touch my daughter," Jasper growled, crouching, ready to pounce. Alice scratched once at Aro's arm before rushing over to help me. Seth beat her to it.

"You have no right to hurt her!" Seth's voice boomed in the wide room as he pointed accusingly at Aro.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Rosalie yelled.

"You hurt her! I hate you!" Renesmee shrieked.

"You have serious issues!" Emmett exclaimed, sounding even more serious than I'd ever heard him.

"You're such an ass!" Leah screamed at him.

Jacob growled.

"What in the name of all that is good and holy in the world did you do that for?!" Edward demanded.

Bella opened her mouth to yell at Aro, but a powerful voice cut her off.

"How dare you lay a hand on her!" Carlisle exploded. We all turned to stare at him in awe—even the Volturi turned their heads in shock. Carlisle had always encouraged peace. He'd never yelled. I'd never seen him angry, at all.

"I'm sorry," he said, straightening his posture and clearing his throat. "It was uncivil of me to behave in such a manner. Aro, you have no right to lay a hand on Jasmine. She is part of my family and I care greatly about her. You promised me all those years ago that you would always respect and treat my family as you would treat me. If you choose not to keep that promise, well, I don't see the need for us to keep ours."

Aro straightened as well. "Carlisle, my friend, I'm sorry. I meant absolutely no disrespect to your family. I acted on first instinct. Please, I wasn't thinking."

"You sure as hell weren't," Bella murmured. Aro didn't pay her the slightest attention.

"Forgive me, Cullen family. Forgive me, Jasmine. I meant not to diminish the promises made between us."

"Come here, Jasmine, we should ice that," Alice said in a motherly tone as she scooped me up into her arms.

"No, Alice, it's okay. I can walk," I said, though I wasn't so sure of that myself. I felt dizzy and lightheaded, but I didn't want to show any weakness. I couldn't let down any guard.

"Are you sure?" Alice asked, her voice thick with concern.

"My goodness, Alice, just put the girl down!" Caius exclaimed. "It's obvious she doesn't want your help _or _sympathy."

"You don't know anything, Caius," Alice snapped. Caius sank back in his seat on the sofa and pretended to be uncaring.

"Alice, why don't you go get the human girl ice and leave her here? We still have things to discuss with her," Jane seered.

Great. Just what my headache needed.

"Jasmine, angel, I think you should sit down," Seth suggested.

"That might be a good idea," I said, my voice sounding as woozy as I felt. With one hand putting the right amount of pressure on my cheek to try and still the pain, I wobbled over to the only empty chair. Of course, it had to be the one next to Felix. I tried to scoot as far away from him as possible and ended up scrunched against the side of the chair.

"Here, Jasmine, just press this onto your cheek," Alice said, walking quickly into the room and handing me an ice pack with a paper towel wrapped around it. "Let's hope that stops the swelling. Carlisle can look at it when the Volturi _leave_." She put a lot of emphasis on the last word.

"She won't need to worry about swelling in three days," Alec said, standing up. "Now, Alice, have you decided who will bite her or will I have to do it?"

"Hold it," Jasper growled through clenched teeth. "No one is biting her. You all, however, are leaving." He gestured to the door.

"But, Jasper, we made a deal," Jane said. "We don't kill her as long as she becomes one of us. That is why we bought Alec. We figured maybe she'd like to skip the pain."

"She will not be turned," Esme said. "My husband and I will not allow it."

"Carlisle," Caius said, "you are a man of your word, are you not?"

"Indeed I am," Carlisle answered. "But I do not believe we stated that her change would happen the moment she received her high school diploma."

"Let me refresh your memory," Felix volunteered. "Mary Alice Brandon Cullen stated that Jasmine Isabella Cullen would be changed after her graduation for knowing of the existence of vampires. If such did not occur, her and her family would have to face the given consequences. For the Cullens, a warning, for her, death. Am I right?"

There was utter silence throughout the room. This was it, then. I wouldn't get to go to college. Maybe in a century when I could control my thirst I'd be able to, but not this year and certainly not next year. The silence lasted. We were all frozen for what seemed like hours.

"I've had enough of this!" Felix exclaimed. Before I could blink, he lunged himself at me, teeth bared, aiming for my throat. I opened my mouth to scream but no sound came out. Instead, a small vampire laid crumpled at my feet with a dark crescent shaped mark that clearly hadn't been there before at her neck. Alice cried out in pain.

A thousand things happened at once then. Jasper rushed to aid his wife, Carlisle behind him. Renesmee hid her face in her mother's stomach only to have herself be pushed away when Bella rushed over to my side. I could almost see the surge of energy sprout out of her as she covered her family with her shield. Jane cried out in annoyance when her power didn't work on whoever she'd wished to inflict it on. Felix stared at me with fire in his eyes. Before he could lunge at me, a small gray wolf pinned him to the ground just long enough for a large sandy colored wolf to take her place. Jacob and Leah managed to protect all of us from Jane, Alec, Aro, and Caius as we strained to do several things.

Alice was still screaming in pain, but I could see the wound paling. In seconds, it became but half a shade darker than her marble skin. Seth and Felix fought outside.

"Emmett!" I cried. "Emmett, please help him!" I pleaded, sobbing. I dropped the ice pack and pointed out the window. Emmett's head whooshed to the side and in less than a blink of an eye, he was fighting by Seth's side. Rosalie went right behind him. Renesmee—poor thing—was curled up in a corner, crying her eyes out. Edward was trying to comfort her but at the same time, his eyes were on Bella, making sure she was okay. Noticing the fight going on outside, Caius and Jane went to aid their fellow Volturi member, who, by the looks of it, had lost his legs and one of his arms. Poor Bella, she looked like she should be sweating bullets with all the effort it was taking to keep her shield around the right people.

No attention at all was on me. I gently stood from my chair and ran to the glass door that led to the enormous backyard-slash-forest. I opened the door and slipped out of it. I gasped at the scene in front of me, but it thankfully went unnoticed.

Felix was towering over Seth, a cruel smile on his face. Jane and Caius were kept busy by Emmett and Rosalie who were putting up a hard fight. Even in wolf form, Seth's arm looked broken and his leg was clearly twisted. I brought my hand to my mouth to muffle my sobs.

Carefully, I walked over to Felix. His head was thrown back, laughing at Seth's pain. His eyes were closed.

"Stay away from him!" I shrieked. All heads turned to look at me, even those from the inside. Felix was just a second too late.

I leaped at him, knocking him over. Thank God for the fact that he'd been distracted or else I wouldn't have been able to do that. Felix seemed too shocked himself to even move or fight back.

"You don't hurt him," I said, breathing extremely hard. "Do whatever the hell you want to me, but _you don't hurt him_."

Felix smirked. "Protective, are you? And, Jasmine, don't think I'm above fighting children. I will fight you."

"That's going to be pretty hard since your missing body parts," I growled.

Felix opened his mouth to speak, but a sandy paw stepped on his neck. I looked up to see Seth, standing and looking ferocious. He nudged me and I stood and backed away. I wanted to look away—I didn't want to see this—but it was like driving by a car crash. You can never look away.

Jane and Caius tried to scramble over to help Felix, but they were literally dragged back by Emmett and Rosalie who were obviously not finished with them yet. I turned my eyes back to Seth who was just tearing off Felix's head. I cringed, but still failed to avert my eyes. Felix's torso was ripped in half, his arms were cracked at the elbow, and his legs were slashed. With more force than I thought possible, Seth slammed Felix's head onto the ground causing it to break down the middle. I gagged—I was going to be sick. He draped Felix's black cloak over all the pieces and Esme walked outside. She was—very carefully—holding a lighter. She flicked it on and—her expression sorrowful—held the flame to the cloak. The lit cloak ignited the body pieces underneath. She flicked it back off and held it to her heart.

"You didn't have to do that Esme," I whispered to her.

"Yes I did," she said. "No one hurts my family."

I threw my arms around her and let my tears flow. Emmett, Rosalie, Jane, and Caius looked up from their fight to look at the purple smoke that was rising into the sky.

"No!" Jane gasped. She collapsed onto the ground and her body shook with the tears she couldn't shed.

"No," Caius whispered angrily. "Aro!" he called.

"Good riddance," Rosalie muttered.

"You said it, babe," Emmett chuckled.

The Cullens, Jacob, Leah, Aro, and Alec walked out into the yard. Esme shifted me to stand behind her. I peeked out from behind her and caught sight of the disgusted expressions of Aro and Alec.

"Who did this?!" Aro demanded. "Who?!"

"I did," Seth said strongly. He walked past me and I clung onto his arm, walking with him. He was in his graduation suit pants and his white collared shirt.

"The werewolf!" Aro growled. "Kill him."

"With pleasure," Alec snarled.

I moved to stand in front of Seth, not that it would do much good. He was six feet, I was about five-foot-three-inches. The flicker of a lighter dragged my attention away from the physically twelve year old vampire in front of me.

"You're not scared of me," Seth said. He held the flame up close to his face. "But you are scared of this."

Alec straightened and backed away.

"Now, I suggest you leave before you all end up like this." He gestured to the pile of ashes at his left.

"We still have something to settle," Aro said. "And, if you don't mind, I'd like to do it in a civilized manner. Can we all come inside?"

Safely tucked under Seth's arm, I walked into the house where my fate awaited me. I passed Alice who I was immediately concerned about.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

She nodded. "I'm fine, Jasmine. Just in shock, that's all." She smiled at me. "You'll be okay."

Oh how I wished she was right.

"We'll separate the ashes," Rosalie murmured, taking Emmett's hand to go back outside.

"Jasmine knows of our existence," Aro stated. "Therefore she cannot continue living. Not as a mortal, anyhow. Our deal was to change her after her high school graduation unless she was willing to become lunch." He smirked evilly. "What's it going to be?"

"Jasmine has a right to know about vampires," Edward said. I turned to stare at him. What the hell was he saying?

"She has a right?" Aro laughed. "Why, Edward, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

"No it is not," Edward argued. "You know our friends, the shape shifters. They have a sort of love they call imprinting. When a shape shifter imprints, they tell the object of their imprinting everything about the mythological world. They tell about their own existence as well as that of their supposed enemies, us, the Cold Ones, the vampires. I'd imagine you, oh high leader of the Volturi, would be well aware of this. Therefore, unless you were to track down and kill each object of imprinting—and by doing so you would be killing the imprinter—then there is no valid reason for you to kill Jasmine."

Aro was silent as he glared at Edward. I could feel the relief in the room from the Cullens and the anger of knowing they'd lost from the Volturi.

"Let us depart," Aro muttered. "Our visit here is done."

The Volturi made their way to the door with deliberate slowness. His hand on the door, Aro paused and turned to smile at me.

"Don't expect this to be our final check up," he declared. "You're not like the other imprinted humans. You knew before this whole imprinting happened. I'll give you a pass now, Jasmine, but I'll expect to see you with gold eyes one day." He laughed—well, more like cackled—as he opened the door and disappeared along with the others into the night.

"Jeez, he's such a pain," Rosalie muttered, walking back into the house. Her hands were black with ash, as were Emmett's.

"Rosalie, please don't dust your hands off here. Go upstairs and wash them. My carpet's had enough damage for one day," Esme said, staring playfully at Jacob and Leah.

"Sorry, Esme," they murmured together.

I stood up and ran over to throw my arms around Edward.

"Thank you, Edward," I whispered, a tear sliding down my cheek. "Thank you so much."

"Inspiration in desperation," he whispered back.

"Thank you all," I said, choking on a sob. "For everything."

"There is no need to thank us," Carlisle said. "You're part of our family, Jasmine. We love you."

I walked around and hugged every single one of them. I stopped longer at Alice and Jasper—my parents in so many ways.

"I love you both," I said, squeezing them tight.

"We love you too," Jasper said.

"So much," Alice sighed.

I stepped back and bumped into my favorite person in the world. Gently, I put my arms around Seth.

"You're not hurt, are you?" I asked.

"Nothing that didn't already heal," he smiled.

I stretched up and he bent down. I crushed my lips to his; wanting nothing more than to just be with everyone I loved at the moment. Minutes had passed when I heard Jasper clear his throat. I looked over at him and blushed a bit.

"Sorry," I giggled.

He smiled. "Maybe you should go upstairs," he suggested. "You still need to see your graduation present."

"You didn't need to get me anything," I said. "Honestly."

"Too bad because we did," Alice smiled.

I laughed and hurriedly ran toward the stairs. I heard several footsteps behind me.

I threw open the white door of my bedroom and gasped.

On my bed there was a box that looked made of metal. It was slightly singed—as if from a fire—but it still looked strong enough to protect whatever was inside. On the side of it, I could clearly see several words engraved.

_Robert and Lidia Brandon are forever._

* * *

**Author's Note: Robert and Lidia Brandon. Anyone remember who those two people are? :D Anyway, sorry if there's anything terribly wrong with this chapter. I'm like half asleep right now so I'm not exactly coherent. I'd read it tomorrow when I can actually distinguish the difference between "to," "too," and "two." And, also, I have received several (and by several I mean eight) PMs asking me the same thing: _Are you sure you're eleven?_ And, so, for the final time, I swear on my life I am an eleven year old girl. Got it? Kay :D**


	8. Chapter 8

Slowly, I walked over to my bed. I sat down and my fingers traced the engraved words. They were slightly singed along with the rest of the box, but the words were extremely clear. Those were my parents' names.

"The combination is seven, two, five, four," Alice whispered just loud enough for me to hear.

My hand was shaking as I reached out to the black dial. When I'd entered the combination, I pulled on the door gently. It opened with a _click_ and I slowly peered into it. Inside were the memories I'd never had.

I reached into it and pulled out the first thing I got my hands on. Several photos tied together with a silver satin ribbon came out in my hand. The one on top was of my mother. She was in a wedding dress. An elderly man stood next to her—my grandfather? To her other side was a woman who looked as old as the man—my grandmother? It was evident that there were tears of joy in my mother's large eyes. I turned the picture over and the words 'My parents and I,' were written in blue pen. Tears clouded my vision as I put that picture in the back and studied the next one.

My mother was walking down the aisle. She was holding on to my grandfather firmly. A short girl with blue green eyes and short spiked black hair walked in front of her. I giggled—she looked like an even smaller version of Alice.

The next few pictures consisted of my mother and father's kiss, their first dance as husband and wife, cutting the cake, and waving out the window of a large white limo. I tied the ribbon around the pictures again and put them back in the box. My hands touched something small. I scooped it up into the palm of my hand and pulled it out.

Two wedding bands were tied tightly together by a piece of string. The string was also tied around a small piece of paper that read 'I do.' I clutched the rings close to my heart for a moment before wiping away the tears that slid down my cheeks and put them back inside the box. I touched a rough piece of paper next and I gladly pulled it out.

_My dearest daughter,_

_Today is the day of your birth and a fire has erupted behind your father and me as I write this. I am so sorry. Should your father and I not make it, I hope that you do. We love you so much, little one, we always will. The day you find this, please don't cry. We're there with you every moment of every day, never forget that. All the things in this fire safe are by law yours. We leave everything to you, little one. I can only pray that you will one day live with a family who loves you as much as we do. Thank you so much for brightening this one day of our lives. _

_Never forget us, love,_

_Mom and Dad _

I was sobbing by the time I finished reading the letter. Alice walked over to me and I threw my arms around her waist and cried into her shoulder.

"There, there," Alice whispered. "They loved you so much, you see that. They don't want you to cry. Their wish has at least been granted. You're with a family who loves you as much as they did."

Her lips pressed to the top of my hair and I looked up and kissed her cheek.

"Thank you so much, Alice," I sobbed. "Thank you."

I felt another pair of cold arms around me. I turned my head and pecked Jasper's cheek.

"Thank you, too, Jasper," I whispered.

"No need to thank us," he whispered back. "We're only doing what's best for you. It's our job."

"We'll leave you alone," Alice said.

"No, stay!" I exclaimed. I didn't want her to leave. I didn't want any of them to leave.

Alice looked at me questioningly but sat down again. She and Jasper scooted down my bed to give me room. Renesmee bounced into the room and took the spot on the bed that Alice and Jasper had opened up. Emmett sat at my desk chair and Rosalie sat on his lap. Bella walked in, gave me a quick hug, and sat down on the other side of the box. Seth sat behind me on the bed, his arms wrapped around my waist. Jake and Leah stood in front of my closet while Edward, Carlisle, and Esme sat on the window seat.

"Why don't you look and see what else is in there?" Nessie chimed. I ruffled her hair.

"I'm getting to it," I laughed.

I continued to look through pictures and entries from my mother's 'nine month diary' that she kept during her pregnancy. There was one snapshot of the three of us together. My mother was lying on a hospital bed smiling down at the baby in her arms—me. My father was sitting at her side with one arm around her and one hand stroking my face.

"What's this?" I whispered, pulling out two manila envelopes. I carefully opened them and my eyes skimmed the papers they contained.

"My parents' wills," I gasped. "They weren't kidding. They left me everything."

My parents had been rich people, it seemed. They left me their estate in London, their millions. They would've left me the house in Biloxi if it hadn't burnt down. All of which I inherited legally when I turned eighteen.

"Oh my gosh," I gasped as I pulled a picture of the London house out of the box. It had the Victorian Era feel. Large and cream colored, the structure stood tall and large. I felt several heads looking over my shoulder to get a glimpse of the photograph in my hands.

"That's an amazing estate," Esme gasped. "I wonder if it's well furnished. I bet I could fix it up nice and homey if it wasn't very much to your liking, Jasmine."

"I'd have to see it first," I sighed before returning the envelopes and photo to the box. My fingers touched something rectangular and smooth. I pulled it out. It was a plastic pink wallet. I opened the clasp and peered at the only thing inside of it—my mother's identification card.

"Lidia Nayeli Perez Brandon," I read. I traced the outline of my mother's picture with my index finger, trying desperately not to cry. Her hair was styled much like mine had been for prom and she was smiling a million dollar smile. She was unnaturally beautiful, not in the vampire way, but in the human way. I reached inside the box again and pulled out what I so sincerely hoped was my father's wallet. It was.

"Robert Brandon Smith," I read. My father looked handsome in his picture. His dark brown hair was carefully arranged atop his head and his blue green eyes shone brightly in the dim light that must have surrounded him. One of my tears plopped down on the card. Seth's finger reached over to me and wiped the tears that were sliding down my cheek.

The rest of the box consisted of letter exchanged between my parents. Several were sent while my father was on a business trip, others while my mother was visiting her sick grandmother in another country that was never mentioned. And, of course, I read their wedding vows. Tears came hard as I read them aloud to my friends and family. I cried so hard I was barely coherent.

Rosalie sighed. "They were very much in love," she sighed. "From what I've heard today, I think your mother and yourself have a lot in common."

"Thanks, Rose," I smiled. "That means a lot."

Rosalie smiled back at me. "Anything else we need to check out?"

"No, I think that was it," I said, feeling the tears in my eyes again.

"No, I don't think that was it," Bella said pulling out a piece of paper with a blue border around the edges. "You missed one."

I took the paper out of her hands. "What is this?" I whispered, turning the paper over so I could read it. The moment I read the caption at the top, I covered my mouth to stifle the sobs.

"Oh my God," I sobbed. Tears were streaming down my red face. My breaths came in sobs and I was shaking so hard that several hands grabbed my arms and shoulders to try and keep me from falling apart. Those words at the top of the page made such a difference in everything that was my existence.

_Standard Certificate of Birth, State of Mississippi_

It was my birth certificate. The paper that made me who I was was in my hands. This was the paper that the headmistress of the orphanage always told me had been lost in the fire. This was the paper that contained every single detail about me—even my name.

Holy crap, my real, actual name was printed on this page…

My eyes scanned each and every single line until I found my name. I closed my eyes once and opened them again, fearing that it had all been a dream and that I would wake to find nothing of what I'd just been through had actually happened. But, no, the paper was still there with my real name printed in clear letters.

I was Mary Alicia Brandon Perez.

"Mary Alicia," Alice whispered. "Now why does that sound familiar?"

"Alicia," I whispered. "Why, it's your name in Spanish. I was named after you!"

"Not a surprise," Jasper snorted. "Alice has been checking up on Robert since he was a little boy. He always was infatuated with Alice's story. He believed she'd had premonitions. He and his mother and father had quite the argument over that."

"But I wonder why they changed it to Span—oh my," I gasped as I read another line on my birth certificate. "I'm half Mexican!"

Gasps echoed throughout the room.

"Half _Mexican_?" Leah questioned. "Jeez, Jasmine, are you sure? I mean, you're barely passing Spanish. If it wasn't for so much tutoring from the bloodsuckers, hell, you'd be failing!"

I didn't answer her. I was too busy shaking with excitement. I'd just found out everything about myself. My name, my ethnicity, everything I'd been missing for all these eighteen years had just jumped at me. I opened my mouth to say something, but words I'd never spoken myself jumped out quickly. It was like I was speaking in a different language. In fact, I probably was. Everyone in the room stared at me in shock.

"Jasmine," Emmett started, "did you just speak Spanish?"

I was too in shock myself to even move, let alone answer a question.

"She just did," Jacob gasped, bemused.

"Jazzy, you're _failing _Spanish!" Leah reminded me yet again.

"How did you do that?" Seth laughed.

"I—I don't know," I admitted.

"Jasmine," Carlisle said, using his doctor voice, as I called it. "Is there a possibility that you remembered these words subconsciously?"

"I don't think so, Carlisle," I said. "I wasn't with my parents very long," I said, choking on a sob and wiping my eyes.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I didn't mean to remind you."

"No, no, it's fine," I said, wiping my eyes. "I'm just a big cry baby, is all." I smiled at him and he smiled apologetically at me.

"I think that's enough excitement for today," I decided, putting my birth certificate (even thinking the words made me want to scream) into the fire safe and closed it.

"I'd have to agree," Alice said. "Goodness, at times like these, I wish I could sleep. It would surely give me a nice rest."

"Alice? Will you tell me something?" I asked.

"Anything," she said.

"How did you get this?" I asked her. "Nothing was left over from the fire. Nothing at all."

"That's not true at all," she sighed. "I had a vision a few weeks ago. I saw the headmistress of the orphanage throwing this out. Jasper and I skipped school to go down there and retrieve it before my vision came true. Nessie, you came with us, why don't you show Jasmine?"

Renesmee's face brightened immediately. She reached over and put her hand on my arm. My head filled with a memory that wasn't mine and I paid careful attention to every detail.

Alice, Jasper, and Nessie burst through the doors of the place I used to call my home.

"Why, Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, what a pleasure it is to see you both again," Ms. Frieder said, her eyes widening and her voice going up an octave with each word. She walked forward and extended her hand toward Jasper who ignored it and then to Alice who did the same. She bent down to look Nessie in the eye. "And who is this delightful young lady?"

"Is that your business?" Nessie scowled. Ms. Frieder grimaced and stood up straight again.

"How is your girl, Bur—oh, um, Jasmine, was it? Better mannered than this one, I hope," she murmured.

"Ms. Frieder," Alice started, "I demand you show me where my daughter's belongings are kept."

Ms. Frieder froze. She turned pale—as pale as the Cullens if not paler. Using Nessie's inhuman hearing from her memory, I heard her heart skip a beat.

"W—w—why I cannot be sure of what you mean, Mrs. Cullen," she stuttered.

"Madelyn Frieder, I suggest you not play games here as we are willing to take legal action against you—not just for taking what wasn't yours, but for the conditions you keep these girls in," Jasper snapped. "Do we understand each other?"

Ms. Frieder's face turned paler than before. "Y—ye—yes, Mr. Cullen," she stammered. "Right this way."

With her head hung low, she led them into a dark, dusty room. She flipped a light switch and the dim light bulb illuminated the darkness—not that Nessie, or Alice and Jasper for that matter, needed light to see what laid within the room.

Piled to the ceiling were fire safes, cardboard boxes with girls' names that I recognized written in dark marker, and several different style trunks and suit cases. I felt Nessie's disgust in the memory which mirrored my own.

"Ms. Frieder!" Alice gasped, even though she was evidently unsurprised. "Do you realize that what you have here is something that is in complete violation of the law?! Why, I have more than half a mind to call the police!"

"What's going on?" a weak voice asked. Nessie turned around and I caught sight of Samantha, a girl who'd teased and hated me. She looked so fragile and seemed as though she'd been losing her hair. The skin of her arms, legs, and face practically stuck to the bones underneath and her hands and feet were black with what was probably ash from cleaning the fireplace. The skin under her eyes was practically black from lack of sleep. Alice quickly rushed over to her and hugged her lightly.

"Don't worry, Sweetie," Alice crooned. "We'll get you help. We'll get help for all of you. And as for you!" Alice turned sharply and pointed accusingly at Ms. Frieder who was cringing into her pile of stolen items. "You stay right here! I'll make sure the police deal with you!"

Alice pulled out her phone and dialed three numbers before putting the phone to her ear.

"Hello, my name is Alice Cullen and I am calling to report the awful conditions of the girls at Saint Helen's Orphanage for Girls. Please send police and ambulances right away."

Ms. Frieder dropped to her knees and started sobbing and begging for forgiveness. That was when Renesmee pulled her hand away from me and stared at me with sad eyes.

"I don't think you want to know the rest," she sighed.

"No, Nessie, show me," I said. I tried to grab her hand but she leaned away from me.

"Really, Jasmine, you don't," she urged. "Some girls were in really bad shape. I don't think you want to see how bad it was."

I nodded. "Okay, I trust you. That's terrible, though! How could she?!" I was honestly appalled. I knew Ms. Frieder wasn't a nice woman, but I never thought it was that bad!

"Don't worry, Jasmine," Alice said, putting her arms around me. "Those girls are all in a better orphanage now. Those who need it are getting treated in a hospital. Ms. Frieder is in prison right now where she can't hurt anyone else."

I hugged her back, wiping my tears on her shoulder. "What about Samantha?" I asked. The girl may have been nastier to me than anyone else, but she'd looked so frail. Was she better now? Oh God, I hoped so.

"She," Alice sighed, "I'm afraid she didn't make it. The doctors did all they could. Her immune system wasn't strong enough to fight off the diseases and viruses her body had been carrying."

My body shook with heavy sobs at this news. I felt Jasper's arms come around me along with Seth's, Nessie's, and Bella's. Nessie was shaking with her own tears and sobs by this point. Her trembling hand was touching my shoulder. My head filled with a memory of hers that I didn't want to see.

Samantha was lying in a hospital bed. Her face looked made of bone and nothing else. Her breaths were strained and painful. She was hooked up to several machines. Nessie was holding Sam's pale hand in her own.

Samantha's body started shaking all of a sudden. Nessie screamed for the doctors while Sam tried to assure her that she was fine. A man in a white coat came rushing in to try and see if there was anything he could do to help the poor girl.

There wasn't.

Samantha started coughing loudly and painfully. She started hacking up blood and lot's of it. Renesmee started crying as she clamped her hand over her nose and mouth to keep from attacking her.

"Don't leave me!" Nessie cried. "Please don't leave me!"

Sam kept coughing up more and more blood. The bed, the floor, her body, and the doctor's sleeves were drenched in it. More blood than should've been able to fit inside her frail body came spewing out of her mouth and nose. Eventually, she could take no more of it. Her body collapsed back onto the hospital bed and the room filled with the steady beeping sound of the heart rate monitor until the doctor pulled the plug and turned it off. Nessie was on the floor, her face buried in her hands.

My body was shaking uncontrollably. I opened my eyes and was absolutely shocked that the room wasn't stained at all in Samantha Harrington's blood. Nessie leaned back from me and covered her mouth.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I didn't mean to—I didn't realize—"

"She became your friend, yes?" I asked through my tears. Nessie nodded sorrowfully.

"She said to apologize on her behalf," she whispered. "She felt really bad for every angry word she ever said to you."

"May she rest in peace knowing that I forgive her for everything," I spoke softly.

The entire room silenced for a moment. The poor, poor girl. Such brutality she'd endured during her life.

"Jasmine," Alice whispered. "You still haven't told me something. Which name do you wish to go by? Legally, they're both yours."

"Jasmine Isabella Cullen is the name you gave me," I said. I looked up and wiped away my tears. I smiled a large smile at Alice and Jasper and turned my head to give the smile to everyone else in the room as well. After all, I loved them all, so they all deserved the smile. "And therefore, it's the name I keep."

* * *

**Author's Note: Guess who's half asleep again! Not to mention sick this time around, too! 8D That's right, I am! So yeah, I know I probably shouldn't be writing in my current state (I should be resting and blah, blah, blah. Yes, Amanders, Joshy, I get the message) but it makes me feel better and takes my focus away from my killer headache and the fact that I can't breathe through my nose. I'd like all your opinions on one thing real quick. In your reviews, would you mind telling me if you think Jasmine should've gone with her birth name or with her adoption name? No, the story won't change according to the votes, but I just wanna know what you guys think. :D Also, I've noticed that many people favorite me and put me on alerts, and yet, you don't review! What's up with that? I like reviews, you know xD**


	9. Chapter 9

I woke to blinding sunlight that day. I groaned internally. I despised morning glare. I lifted my hand to shield my eyes from the light pouring in through the large glass back wall. I would have to ask Alice if I could get a curtain so that my eyes didn't have to suffer. Not that that mattered now. Today was the day, August twenty-sixth, the day we'd all leave for Harvard.

Not only that, but it also happened to be Seth's birthday. He was still asleep, but I twisted to the side to plant a kiss on his mouth anyway. His eyelids opened slowly and, when he was fully conscious, he returned the kiss.

"Happy birthday," I laughed when he pulled away.

"A happy birthday indeed it is," he chuckled.

"And why is that?" I asked. "Your day's barely started!"

"After the start my day's had, I'm sure nothing can spoil it. I've woken to find you in my arms, my own personal angel. And, not to mention, having you here after my sleep proved that this isn't just a dream. I really am yours."

He smiled largely at me. I blushed but smiled back anyway.

I yawned and stretched my body as much as I could. "We should start getting ready," I decided.

"Excited for Harvard?" he chuckled, climbing out of bed. I followed him, still stretching and yawning, trying to wipe away my tiredness.

"Extremely," I smiled. "It's gonna be so fun."

"Ha, that's what you said about high school." He rolled his eyes and I rolled mine. We walked down the staircase to find the Cullens sitting in the living room—suitcases piled by the door, and I was sure that wasn't even half of it.

"That's not even _close _to half of it," Edward laughed. I shook my head and rolled my eyes again.

"Good morning, Edward," I yawned. "'Morning, everyone."

"'Morning, Jasmine," Alice sang. "How'd you two sleep?"

"If they slept at all," Jasper grumbled. No, he still wasn't very happy about my boyfriend-slash-fiancé practically living in this house. Hell, he wasn't happy that Seth even had the title of my fiancé. "The two of them were up half the night. That's right; I hear things."

I laughed and walked over to give him a hug. "You worry too much, Jasper," I said. "Loosen up."

He rolled his eyes. "You sound just like a teenage girl," he sighed.

"That's what they tell me," I laughed.

"You couldn't have gotten just a little more sleep, though?" Alice complained, eyeing me. "Those bags under your eyes get thicker and thicker everyday."

"It's not my fault I get excited easily," I murmured.

"Oh yes it is," Alice disagreed. "Now, come with me. We need to get you ready!"

I fought the urge to clap with joy as I rushed up the stairs behind her. I grew fonder and fonder of her beauty attacks as the days went by. I heard Bella scoff downstairs.

"Traitor," she muttered. I ignored her.

Once we were upstairs Alice flew down the hall and came back to me at such speed, I didn't even get a chance to take my first step to follow her.

"Go sit down," she instructed. "I'll be right there."

"M'kay," I said. I wandered into the bathroom and took a seat in the pink salon chair. I turned to face the mirror and gasped at my reflection. Alice was right; I looked terrible.

My hair was knotted into a tumbleweed shape in the back of my head. I had dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep and my eyes themselves drooped. I would need to put more effort into having a good slumber.

"What am I going to do with you?" Alice groaned, dumping a bunch of supplies on the counter. "You cannot start college looking like that!"

"Well sorry," I muttered.

"We don't have much time. I need to get you ready."

And with that being said, she was off.

Moving so fast she was basically a blur; Alice attacked. She pulled at my hair with a brush and every time I protested, she flicked my head and started brushing harder. When she was finished, though my hair was untangled, it was a large, poufy mess. At least now I knew that it was pure genetics; apparently that's what Mexican hair did.

Alice then drenched my hair in several different sprays and gels at once. The smell of them together was overpowering. I coughed and swatted at the air around me—trying to wave the scent away.

"Too much?" Alice asked.

"Just a little," I coughed.

The different chemicals in the hair care products made the hard to work with poof in my hair disappear. Now all that was left was a matted blanket of damp, dark brown hair that Alice had to brush through yet again to dissolve any new clumps. She pulled at my hair and I muttered "ow" every now and then to what she replied a simple "sorry" and went back to work.

She plugged in a flat iron to heat up as she blow dried my hair as she brushed it some more. She sprayed more products into my hair and I groaned out loud.

"Won't that just make it worse?" I asked.

"It'll do exactly the opposite," she said.

I lost interest in trying to keep up with everything Alice was doing to me as I usually did after half an hour or so. My mind was just starting to wander when Renesmee came waltzing into the bathroom. I smiled at her. In about a month—since she looked about fourteen to fifteen—she would be starting high school. She'd grown so much during the past few months. Soon, it wouldn't do to call her my little Nessie anymore. I could barely imagine how Bella must be taking it all in…

"Hey Alice, Jasmine," she sang, giving us both kisses on the cheek. "Whatcha doing?"

I smiled involuntarily. I loved it when her veritable age slipped into her words and actions. I mean, really, how fun is it to watch a girl who looks fifteen read a Dr. Seuss book? Very fun, I'll tell you that much.

"Trying to fix Jasmine's poor excuse for hair," Alice murmured.

Nessie laughed. "Need any help?" she asked.

"Sure!" Alice exclaimed putting Nessie in her place and giving her the flat iron. "Please tell me you know how to work that," she added warily.

Nessie rolled her eyes. "Of course I do," she said. "Now go do whatever it is you were gonna do."

"Get Jasmine's outfit and pack up her dorm, on it." And with that, she zoomed out of the bathroom. Nessie straightened out a piece of my hair with a thin comb and positioned the flat iron at the top before she clamped it closed and—putting the comb at the edge of the iron—pulled it down slowly. Aw, she was just like a professional.

"Nessie?" I asked as she prepared to continue straightening my hair.

"Hmm?"

"What did Alice mean by 'pack up my dorm'?"

Nessie cracked a smile. "She went a little nuts when she found out she was allowed to bring things from home to decorate the dorms with."

"Oh no," I murmured. I was about to put my head in my hands but Nessie yanked me back up by the hair. "How insane did she go?"

"Um… define insane," she said.

"Oh my God," I mumbled. "That bad? Really?"

"Don't worry about it, Jasmine. All the things she got to decorate you guys' dorm are really nice."

"I'm rooming with her?" I asked. "Says who?"

"Says me," Alice chimed, walking back into the room. "Don't you just love my visions?"

"I have to say, Alice, I think I do. So we were just roomed together by some lucky coincidence or did you pull some strings?"  
"I haven't pulled any strings," she assured me, "yet."

"Alice," I whined. "Can't we do things like normal people for once?"

"If you insist," she sighed. "Have fun rooming with Asia."

"What?!" I screamed. "Asia got into _Harvard Law_?! How?!"

"Her dad is best friends with the president," Alice informed me. "So, still want to do things like normal people?"

I stared at her for a second before smiling wide and saying, "Love you, roommate!"

"That's what I thought," she said. "Nessie, are you almost done with her hair?"

"I just need to do her bangs," Nessie said. She turned me in my chair to face her and in mere seconds, she declared me perfect.

"Fabulous job, Ness," Alice complimented. Nessie beamed. "Now, just help me get the curlers into her hair so we can do her makeup."

Renesmee's face fell immediately. "Alice!" she complained. "I spent all this time straightening her hair and now you want it _curled_?!"

"Ness, you know that curls look better if the hair is straightened beforehand," Alice reasoned. Nessie grimaced, but nodded.

Alice bent down to pick something up off the floor. It was something like a box that was plugged in to the wall. Inside it were medium sized rollers that looked like they'd been heating up. She flipped a switch and the small light that indicated the heater being turned on darkened slowly until it was off.

Nessie and Alice went to work putting the small rollers into my hair. When they were finished, I had about a dozen rollers pinned tightly and securely to the sides of my head. Renesmee crouched down and pulled several multi-colored pouches out of a cabinet. She then proceeded to dump their contents onto the counter. Soon, the counter was completely covered in many different brands of makeup.

"Jeez, do I really look that bad?" I asked, surveying the countertop.

"Yes, now hush and lean back," Alice instructed. "We've got a lot of work to do."

As Alice and Nessie buffed and polished every corner of my face, I started thinking about Harvard. What was is going to be like? I'd watched Legally Blonde, but I didn't think that the movie could really match up to the actual experience. And anyways, I definitely was no Elle Woods.

"Oh, I love that color for her," Alice was saying to Nessie who then applied some blush to my cheeks.

"Close your eyes, Jazzy," Nessie instructed. I did as she said and felt several different things being applied to my eyelids and eyelashes.

"And open your mouth," Alice added. I slightly parted my lips and felt what surely had to be lip gloss being smoothed over them. I closed my mouth again only to pop it open again.

"Alice, are you sure you're not going overboard with this?" I asked. "I mean, it is only Harvard."

I opened my eyes and saw Alice and Nessie staring at me like I was crazy.

"_Only Harvard?_" they repeated at once. "That is the stupidest thing you've ever said," Alice gasped.

I lifted my hands in surrender. "All right, all right." I shrugged. "That was just my personal opinion."

"Well, hush," Alice snapped. "We're almost done anyway."

Both Alice and Renesmee started moving so fast, they were a blur to my eyes.

"Who's rooming with my momma, Alice?" Nessie asked her.

Alice smiled warmly. "That would be Rosalie and a girl named Patricia Robinson," she answered.

"Patricia Robinson?" Nessie laughed. "What kind of name is _that_?"

"Nessie, I know your mother taught you better than to make fun of people's names," Alice scolded.

Nessie blushed tomato red. "I know," she said sheepishly, smiling uncomfortably. "I'm sorry."

Alice smiled at her and declared, "All right, you're done. Jasmine, meet your new face!"

I rolled my eyes and spun myself around to face the mirror. All right, I had to admit, I looked a lot better than I had this morning. There was no sign of the me with dark circles and bags under her eyes showing her immense lack of sleep. Now, my skin was like milky caramel and my cheeks were like roses. I looked up at Alice and smiled, thanking her silently. She smiled back kindly.

"You like?" She smirked.

"I love," I corrected.

"Hey, Jasmine," Rosalie greeted, walking into the bathroom. "You look great."

"Thanks Rose." I smiled. She seemed to be the first one ready—as always—and I was getting used to her looking like the angelic prom queen every single day. Alice grimaced and scanned Rosalie's appearance.

"Goodness, Rosalie, don't you think you're dressed a little high school?" she teased.

I looked at Rosalie's clothes. She was wearing a bright pink loose-fitting shirt with dark blue jeans, black converse, a charm necklace and a matching bracelet. She wasn't dressed like a high school student—she was dressed like… well… Rosalie.

Rosalie stared daggers at Alice. "Shut up," she snarled. Alice rolled her eyes and stepped back from her with her hands up.

"Gosh, Rose, calm down," Nessie laughed. "Like it really matters how you look. In college, everyone's drunk, hung over, or stressing."

All of our head snapped to stare at Nessie—a look of confusion on each of our faces. Booming laughter erupted from downstairs. Nessie leaned away from us slightly and her eyes went from my face, to Rose's, to Alice's.

"What?" she asked.

"Nessie," Alice warned. "Have you been spending time with Uncle Emmett lately?"

Nessie's lips puckered and her eyes darted over to the door in false innocence. "Maybe," she sang. We all rolled our eyes and laughed—even Rose.

"Oh, Nessie," I sighed. "A feisty little thing you are."

She smiled widely. "That's what they tell me," she giggled, dancing out of the bathroom.

"Rosie? Would you mind going to get Jasmine's clothes for me?" Alice requested. "I slung them over a chair in my bedroom."

"As long as you never call me Rosie again, I'll be glad to do it," Rosalie responded. She capped the lip gloss that was in her hand, set it down on the counter, and glided out of the room.

"I'm gonna go get dressed," Alice said, already halfway to the door. "Do you think you can stay put until Rose gets back with your clothes?"

"Um… Yes?" I said, though it sounded more like a question. Alice gave me a short warning look before practically running out the door and down the hall.

I wasn't alone for more than a second before Rosalie came prancing back in to the room. She dropped several articles of clothing on my lap, smiled, and left just as quickly as she'd come, shutting the door behind her.

I shifted my weight to my right leg so I could stand up. In doing so, several things clanked to the linoleum floor. I sighed, put the clothes on the chair I'd been sitting on, and bent down to pick up whatever it was I'd dropped. My hand closed around the small items and I straightened back up. I unclasped my fist and saw a necklace with a small cluster of charms shaped like stars and hearts dangling from it. Next to that were three bracelets—one black, one silver, one white—with small hearts hung from them. At least _this_ wasn't expensive, I hoped. Maybe Alice had been a bit more rational this time.

I put the jewelry down and changed into the clothing on the chair. I put the necklace on and pulled my seashell—that still rested in the crook of my neck—over it. I slipped the bracelets onto my right wrist and put the black and white sweater on over my short-sleeved white shirt. I slipped my feet into the simple slip on shoes and pulled the leg of my jeans down.

"You look great!" Alice squealed. I jumped about a foot in the air when I saw her—I hadn't even noticed her entrance.

"Thanks. So do you," I breathed, overlooking her small body. But then again, when didn't she look great? When didn't any of the _Cullens _look great?

I was glad to see that Alice had even kept it low-key on herself. She only wore a simple red shirt, grey jeans, and grey shoes.

"Alice, I have to say, I'm shocked," I teased. She looked at me questioningly. "No custom couture design from Paris?"

"No, I've worn all those already," she said thoughtfully. "But there is that new Marchesa dress I've been dying to wear. Oh, and those Christian Louboutin shoes that arrived last week. And of course there's the—"

"Alice, Alice," I said, trying to calm her before she started talking so fast that I couldn't understand her. "Calm, calm. I was just joking; I love it."

Alice beamed. "Oh, okay! We should probably get going soon. We've got a long drive!"

"Knowing your driving I don't think it'll take _that _long," I laughed, following her out of the bathroom. Alice slid down the long railing of the stairs and straight into Jasper's arms. He held her close to him and she stretched up to peck his cheek. Her lips parted slightly and I knew she was speaking to him, even if I couldn't hear it. Jasper smiled and whispered something back. I tried to slide down the railing like Alice had, but I fell forward halfway down.

"Whoa!" I screamed as I threw my hands forward to try and break my fall.

Of course, it just so happened that I was falling in the direction of a glass coffee table. Well, crap, here come more stitches. I closed my eyes tightly, brought my arms to my chest, and braced myself for the worst. I was so ready to feel the pain of the glass cutting into my skin but, instead, a pair of strong, warm arms caught me. I looked up and smiled at Seth. He sighed.

"What am I going to do with you?" he whispered, his nose skimming my jaw line. I brought my mouth to his and our lips moved in sync with each other, and I thought for the trillionth time how grateful I was to have him.

"How many times," Jasper sighed, clearly exasperated, "am I going to have to tell you two to break it up?"

I rolled my eyes and reluctantly pulled away from Seth who was smiling as if this amused him greatly.

"It's not like we're doing anything wrong," I protested. "You kiss Alice all the time."

"That's different," he said sternly. "Not only are we older, but we've been together for over eighty years and we're married."

I lifted my hand to show him the ring on my finger. I smirked as he flinched, as he did every time he saw the ring.

"It's still different," he murmured. Alice smacked him lightly on the arm and kissed him to silent him.

"Jasper," she said in a warning tone. He growled and sighed.

"Sorry," he muttered, though it was apparent he clearly didn't mean it. "Anyways, you should be more careful. That would've been a nasty fall."

I shrugged and walked over to him to give him a hug.

"I know you want to have my best interest in mind, but could you loosen up a bit? You know I won't do anything wrong," I said.

He sighed and patted my back. "I know, I know. I trust you."

"Ha, well I don't," Emmett said. "Do you not notice their make out sessions? It's only a matter of time until—"

"Emmett!" Esme snapped. "Show some respect." I threw a glare at Emmett and he pretended to cringe into the sofa, afraid, before rolling his eyes and putting an arm around Rosalie who was sitting next to him.

"C'mon!" Emmett argued. "Don't you think there might be a possibility that she might take after Rose a bit and—"

"Emmett!" everyone in the room scolded. He rolled his eyes and sank back into the couch.

"Just saying," he muttered.

I was about to throw the nearest thing to me at Emmett—a pillow—but Nessie walked slowly into the room, her head held low. She lifted her hand and wiped her eyes. She lifted her head a bit and smiled sadly through her evident tears, her reddened face flushing with embarrassment.

"Sorry," she whispered, wiping her eyes again. "Momma and Daddy just left."

I smiled apologetically at her. I knew it must hurt her to have her mom and dad away from home for such long periods of time. I walked over to her and gave her a squeeze.

"I'm already sad enough with my parents gone," she whispered in my ear. "What am I going to do without my big sister?"

Tears came to my own eyes as I heard her words. _What am I going to do without my big sister?_ she'd said.

"You have Carlisle and Esme to take care of you," I reminded her, "and Granddaddy Charlie."

"But it won't be the same," she sobbed into my shoulder. I patted her back.

"It's okay, it's okay," I assured her. "Don't cry, don't cry."

"Sorry to break this up," Alice whispered, "but we should get going."

I gave Nessie's cheek one last kiss before I pulled away from her and wiped the tears away from her cheeks and eyes. She laughed sadly and wiped my tears away. I leaned down to kiss the top of her head, ruffled her hair, took Seth's hand, and followed Alice and Jasper toward the door. Emmett and Rosalie followed us.

"Goodbye!" Esme called.

"And good luck," Carlisle added.

Both of them stayed inside but Renesmee walked over to stand to the side of Alice's Porsche. Alice, Seth and I stepped into her car while Rosalie and Emmett hopped into the Jeep.

"All our things are in the Jeep," Alice said to me, "so don't worry about it."

I nodded and buckled my seat belt. I pushed a button to open the passenger window and waved to Nessie as we pulled out of the driveway. She waved back sheepishly. We'd only been driving for a few minutes (at over one hundred miles per hour, may I add) when I felt the need to break the silence.

"Alice?" I asked. "Who else is going to be rooming with us?"

Alice smirked at me. "You know what? I think I'll let that be a surprise for you."

I didn't plan on arguing. I supposed it _would _be fun to experience something like a normal person for once. So those were the last words said during our ride to Harvard, but the silence that followed was pure and blissful, for I knew I was in for some of the most amazing four years of my life.

* * *

**Author's Note: Ello readers! ^^ Hope you liked the chappie! Anyway, for those of you who haven't read my last chapter (the VERY IMPORANT author's note) I suggest you read it and vote for your favorite! Also, I have that site up I promised you all so long ago! You can either click the link on my profile to go there or just type in the adress bar: . In a review, please tell me what you think about the people I chose for the characters and so on! Thanks! ^_^ ~April**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: All right, for the last chapter, I got what was probably the best review I've ever gotten. This chapter is dedicated to the person who left me that review: MintCcIceCream! You, my friend, are definitely made of awesome!**

The street was incredibly crowded with convertible cars full of college students shouting out the window at one another. Up ahead, I could see the large university. My heart rate sped up at the sight of it. This was it, then, my first day of the next four years of my life.

"Jasmine, would you calm down? I can feel your anxiousness from back here," Jasper said teasingly.

"I don't think she can, Jazz." Alice laughed. "You know how excited she gets."

I probably shouldn't have opened my mouth then—when I get too excited, I stutter uncontrollably—but I did. "Y-ya-yeah, Ja-J-Jas-Jasper. Y-you kn-know me."

Of course, laughter exploded in the car. I felt the blood rush wildly to my face, probably turning me a very unattractive shade of red. From a peak in the rear-view mirror, I could tell I was right. Oh, how I hated that.

"Breathe, Jasmine," I heard Seth's calm voice say in my ear. "Just breathe. Everything's gonna go great so long as you _breathe_." I exaggerated a sigh and inhaled deeply before letting all the air out.

"Happy?" I asked, thankfully, without stuttering.

Seth smiled, but said nothing. It wasn't long before Alice swerved her way through the street traffic and parked her Porsche under the shade of an oak tree. Rosalie and Emmett parked but a few feet away. I rolled down my window and was relieved to see that it was a cloudy day. I was worried about the Cullens. I didn't want their—or _our_, I suppose it was—secret to be exposed. Rosalie and Emmett stepped out of their Jeep and Alice, Jasper, Seth and I stepped out of the Porsche. Though the Cullens' skin didn't sparkle insanely, it seemed all cars stopped moving and all students stopped their actions to turn their heads and stare. I rolled my eyes—what? Had they never seen a group of insanely gorgeous 'humans' before? My guess was _no_.

"Hey, guys!" a familiar voice called. "I see we've stopped traffic… again."

"Hey, Bella," I greeted her. I gave her a one armed hug and smiled at Edward who was running up behind her.

I could've sworn I heard the jaws of everyone around us drop. Guys started whispering to each other—wondering loudly whether or not Alice, Bella, and Rosalie were taken or not. I even heard some guy give a vivid description of me to one of his friends who nodded quickly at whatever comment it was he'd made. Girls put on their flirty faces and a few tried to walk by Seth or Jasper inconspicuously giggling to try and get their attention. I leaned into Seth and Alice, Bella, and Rose made similar movements. Alice wrapped her arms around Jasper and kissed his cheek as he put an arm securely around her waist. Several whines and groans echoed, belonging to both guys and girls. I heard Bella make a comment about Renesmee—something like, "Do you think our daughter will be okay with your parents while we're here?"—and many "Are you kidding me?!" comments were muttered. Rosalie kissed Emmett fiercely and many onlookers—mostly guys—practically screamed in anger.

I bit down on my lip to hold back outbursts of laughter. As always, a few eyes still remained on me. Apparently, leaning into Seth wasn't enough of a message for these people. The dim sunlight filtering through the clouds wasn't enough to draw any attention to the ring on my finger. I groaned internally. I still wasn't really used to having people stare at _me _when the Cullen girls were present—even if they were obviously taken. Emmett, Rosalie, Edward, Bella, Alice, even Jasper looked at me, apparently expecting me to do something that would cause another angry outburst. I opened my mouth to say something about our engagement, about how much I loved Seth, _anything_, when the person I least expected to come bouncing toward me took care of it.

"Jasmine!" Jade cried, hugging me tightly before pulling back to wave at Seth and the Cullens. "Oh, my God, I missed you so much! I've tried calling you, but your phone is always off! Have you and Seth set a date for the wedding yet?"

The last of the groans and whines were uttered, but I scarcely cared. The surprise of seeing my best friend was enough to grasp all my attention.

"Jade!" I gave her another hug and then looked around at the narrowed eyes and angry expressions of clearly pissed off people with satisfaction. A few guys did meet my eyes and they smiled and waved, but they were politely ignored (well, as politely as I could manage, anyway). "What happened? Not that I'm not extremely and completely thrilled to see you, but weren't you going to Dartmouth this year?"

"I was!" she exclaimed. "But I got a late acceptance letter for Harvard and I couldn't resist!" She threw her arms around me again. "I'm just so glad to see you! And, oh, my gosh, I just got the best news! You and I are gonna be roommates!"

I squealed in delight. God, I was such a girl. "That's so great!"

"I know! But, ugh, _Asia _is out other roommate! How did she even get _in_ here?!"

"Jade, Jade," I said, trying to calm her. "Asia's not going to be rooming with us."

Jade cocked her head to the side in confusion. "But I was just told that—"

"_I'm _going to be your other roommate!" Alice said in delight, popping up being Jade. Jade jumped about a foot in the air in surprise before turning around—her eyes popping open at the sight of Alice. A grin blew up on her face and she hugged Alice tightly.

"Alice! Oh, I'm so glad to see you!" That was when she seemed to first acknowledge the everyone else. "Ah!" she screamed. "Rose! Emmett! Jazz! Bella! Edward! Seth!" She screamed each name as she hugged them. Rosalie laughed at her enthusiasm.

"I knew there was a reason I always liked her," she whispered to Emmett.

"So, Alice, I hear _you're _our roommate?" Jade asked, turning back to face Alice again.

"That's right." Alice giggled. "How do you like that?"

"I love that!" Jade laughed. "I like you so much better than Asia! I'd rather room with people who are practically sisters than some royal witch."

I saw Rosalie raise her eyebrows. "Witch?" she asked. "Don't you mean bi—"

"Rosalie!" Alice snapped. Jade had a no-cussing policy. She never cussed, and preferred that the people around her didn't either.

Jade looked embarrassed, but laughed. "Oh, it's all right, Alice," she assured her. "I've gotten better at that."

My eyes widened. "So you cuss now?"

Jade blushed. "Well, I only go as bad as crap," she admitted sheepishly.

I laughed. "Eh, close enough." I gave her another hug before turning to Alice. "So… what do we do now?"

"We need to go register," she said matter-of-factly. "I think the desk for that is over… there!" She pointed to a small booth-like stand that was across the street.

"Oh, okay." Jade started walking. When she noticed we weren't following, she turned back. "Aren't you guys coming?"

"We'll catch up with you later," I promised with a smile. She shrugged, waved, and turned around to keep walking.

"You can go on ahead with her, Jasmine," Alice said, nodding her head toward Jade. "We have a lot to unload here."

"All right," I muttered, but I still wasn't leaving. I peaked over at Seth who was staring expectantly at Alice.

"Seth, you can go with her," she said. I smiled and started walking hand in hand with Seth. When we started losing Jade from our sight, we broke into a slow canter.

"Jade!" I called. "Wait up!"

She turned around, her face looking as if she wasn't very surprised to see us. "Changed your mind?" she asked.

I shrugged. "We weren't really needed as much as I thought."

"Seth!" Emmett's voice called. "Come back here! I need your help!"

I groaned so loud, several heads turned to look in my direction. I squeezed Seth's hand tightly before reluctantly letting go. He leaned down and leaned his forehead against mine.

"It's all right," he whispered reassuringly. "I won't be gone long."

I tilted my head up to kiss him. "Hurry back." And he was gone.

I heard Jade sigh one of those "aw, how sweet" sighs. I turned to glare at her playfully.

"What?" she said, her eyes widening and shrugging innocently. "I think it's so amazing how much you two love each other. It's almost like there's a spell that's binding you together; almost like you were designed for one another."

She had no idea.

I smiled at her, trying not to make it seem obvious that her words awakened the secret in me. It was easy to forget that he loved me because of the imprinting. It all seemed so natural most of the time; as if our love was normal. But, what really tugged at my hidden wounds was the fact that it wasn't normal. He had to be with me, whether he liked it or not. But then, he _had _to like it. I tried to push it to the thought to the back of my head. I'd gone through this crap before and I refused to relive it.

We were at the stand by now, which I could now clearly see had the words "Student Registration" written in bold red letters on a yellow sign. Someone who looked like they might be a third-year looked up from an orange clipboard and caught sight of Jade and me.

"Name," he ordered from me. I could tell by his tone that he didn't like his job.

"Jasmine Cullen," I muttered. He wrote something on the paper in front of him before turning his body slightly toward Jade.

"Name," he said again.

"Jade Hoang," she answered, clearly disturbed by his poor attitude.

"Your keys," he said, plopping two small plastic bags in keys in front of us. I took the one that had my name printed neatly in black while Jade took the other. The guy handed us each a folder that included a list of our classes, assignments for the year, a calendar, and a map of the school. When we just stood there, he looked up at us again.

"You can go now," he said through clenched teeth. Slowly, we stepped back slowly before turning and practically running away.

"Wow, can you say bad attitude much?" Jade murmured.

"Completely," I agreed. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

We fought our way through the crowds of students, trying to get to the building with all the dorms. **(A/N: Ahem, yeah, I don't know what that's called so if anyone knows, do me a favor and tell me?) **Once we were inside, we had to battle our way through more people. We climbed several flights of stairs to try and make it to the third floor where our dorm was.

"That tears it," I sighed. "We're so lost."

"I agree," Jade said. She threw her paper down onto the floor before stooping back down to pick it up again. She brushed some dirt off of it that it collected during its few moments on the floor and tucked it under her arm.

"Let's ask someone the way," I suggested. "Maybe someone can help us."

I started walking and Jade walked slowly behind me.

"Or they'll be just as lost as we are," she murmured. I ignored her.

"Let's… ask… her!" I pointed to a girl with shiny red hair that was facing away from us.

"Excuse me!" I called. "Can you help us?" I tapped her shoulder to get her attention. "My friend and I are a bit lost. Can you tell us which way the staircase is for floor three?"

She turned around swiftly, her hair brushing my face. She wasn't facing me completely before I recognized who she was.

Asia.

Crap.

She smirked and her eyes narrowed. "Would you look what the cat dragged in," she said, repeating the lines Tiffany had said to me when we first met. Asia put her hands on her hips and scrutinized me.

"Asia," Jade and I gasped at once.

"Jasmine." She smirked. "Jade. I heard we were gonna be roomies, until that short Cullen chick bought the room off of me. Your family has serious money, Jasmine, more than my own."

"Which is weird because it probably took a _lot_ of money to get you into Harvard." I smirked. She stumbled back a step, surprised, before composing her face again and pretending not to care. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"You have no proof of that," she said.

"Says you," I snapped.

Her eyes darted from me to Jade.

"Aw, and look who's here," she laughed. "It's little miss Jaded Star." She threw her head back in cruel laughter. "Still buying your clothes from Goodwill, I see."

I felt Jade cringe backward. I stepped in front of her and stretched up to look Asia in the eye.

"Don't talk to her that way," I growled. Man, I could so make one hell of a vampire.

"And you're still protecting one another," she snickered. "How sweet. And where's that little boy toy of yours? Did you get your share of him yet or have you not gotten enough yet?"

Those words. Those freaking words. I could've screamed, I could've cried in anger. But I didn't. Instead, I punched her.

Jade gasped loudly and several people turned to see what happened. When they saw nothing incredibly remarkable, they kept walking. No, it hadn't been as hard as I'd punched Embry, but it was still hard. She didn't exactly fall to the ground with blood pouring from her nose like I'd half expected she would, but she did stagger back about two feet with her hand covering her nose. When she removed her hand, I saw the blood.

Well, crap, I did it again!

"Oh, my God, Asia," I said, walking toward her. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"Shut up, Cullen!" she snapped, digging in her purse. She pulled out a few Kleenexes and pressed them to her slowly bleeding nose. "Why don't you… ugh, why don't you just get out of here?"

I stood my ground. I had to help her. This was my fault. I thanked God I didn't knock her unconscious. I would've insisted on helping her had Jade not grabbed my wrist and pulled me away. She started running and I couldn't help but run with her. For being so small, she was ridiculously fast and strong. I looked down. She was wearing high heels. I rolled my eyes internally. That girl would stumble and fall on her face if she was running in sneakers, but she could run a marathon in those six inch heels. No wonder she and Alice got along so well.

We ran up a flight of stairs and miraculously ended up on floor three. Jade dug her key out of her pocket as we searched for the right door. We came to a door that had a purple rimmed white board stuck to it. In red marker, the words "Alice, Jade, and Jasmine!" were written with fancy scribbles and doodles framing them. Jade unlocked the door and let us in. Though the room was almost fully furnished (except for the bottom bunk of the bunk bed, which I imagined was meant to be Jade's) it was empty of people. Alice was probably out somewhere. Jade closed the door again and stared at me. I didn't notice I was crying until she wiped my eyes with her hand.

"Thank you," she said, "for defending me. And I do not blame you for punching her. The sorry bitch deserved it."

I stared at her. "You said bitch." I gasped. "That didn't even look right coming out of your mouth, Jade."

She rolled her eyes. "Not the point. The point is you defended me when you didn't have to. The point is she went way too far. The point is Asia totally and completely deserves to be knocked out right now. I've never seen anyone stand up to her like that. Wait to start out what should be a great school year." She smiled at me and I smiled back through my tears. How could she be so proud of me when I was so disappointed with myself? Goodness, I needed anger management classes.

"Hey," Alice's voice sang as the door closed behind her. She sat down on the single bed across from us. "I heard." Her eyes met mine and I saw no hint of sadness or anger or even disappointment. I actually saw some smug amusement in them and an apologetic look, as well. I smiled, thanking her for not being angry with me with my eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

I nodded and lifted my hand to wipe my eyes. "I'm fine," I assured her. "Just a little… shaken, you could say." And, just to drag the conversation away from what I'd just done, I said, "All this décor is so pretty, Alice. You picked out really nice things."

She beamed. "Thanks. Oh, and, Jade, I found out you were going to be rooming with us about a month ago so I bought some stuff for your bed." Alice gestured to a pile of emerald and white bed sheets. "You can use them if you like. If not, Rosalie had her eye on them, so…"

"Alice!" Jade squealed, skipping over to the covers. "I love it! Thanks so much!" She hugged Alice in thanks for a second before going over to spread them over her bed.

"How did you know I wanted to bottom bunk?" she asked Alice.

Alice smiled. "Lucky guess, I suppose." She shrugged. "This is your bed, Jazzy." She gestured to the one I was sitting on, the single bed. "I knew you'd want this one."

"Thanks, Alice," I said. "These covers are spectacular. I love Ying and Yang." The comforter had the Ying and Yang symbol painted onto it. I loved it.

"Seth was looking for you, by the way," she added as she went to go climb onto her top bunk. I felt my face brighten immediately.

"Where is he?" I asked, almost too eagerly.

"He… um… went out into the forest." Alice picked her words carefully. She glanced down at Jade who showed no sign of thinking her words were odd. She was just flipping through the pages of the latest _Cosmo Girl _magazine.

"Oh, okay." I pulled on my sweater and grabbed my phone. "I'm gonna go look for him. Be back later!"

Alice and Jade muttered their goodbyes and I closed the door gently behind me. The halls had cleared out by now, much to my relief, and there were only a few students gathered in small bunches talking. A few said their hellos as I walked by, but otherwise, no one made any other attempt to talk to me.

I walked down the flight of stairs that would take me to the second floor. I rounded the corner and heard a blisteringly familiar voice that made me stop in my tracks.

"Why don't we try that just one more time?" I heard Asia say. I peeked over and saw the last thing I would have ever wanted to see.

Asia was kissing Seth.

My hand flew to my mouth to muffle my sobs. It was all I could do to keep from screaming. Seth's eyes opened slightly and I knew he saw me. I didn't care. I turned quickly and dashed down the hall. I heard Seth calling my name, but I didn't care about that either, I just kept moving. The searing pain and agony that shot through my body—my heart, especially—was terrible. Nothing could compare to it. The pain I felt when Thomas stabbed me, when he ripped my throat open hours later, when Aro smacked me, none of it compared to the pain I felt when I saw Asia's lips against Seth's. I bolted toward my room, hot tears stinging my cheeks the entire time.

* * *

**Author's Note: Yeah, I'm evil, you're gonna kill me, I should sleep with one eye open, blahblahblah, I get it. I know what I was getting myself into with that one xD Anyway, I know I probably said something totally stupid about Harvard so if anyone would be ever so kind to correct me, I'd love that! ^^ M'kay, and also, in case you haven't noticed, ZOMFG I AM SO CLOSE TO 100 REVIEWS IT'S LIKE AMAZING! So, yeah, next chapter, be prepared for much screaming from me if my current 95 reviews increase to something over 100. ily all! -huggles-**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: So many death threats… -wince- o.o;**

**Also, ZOMFG! I HAVE 105 FRICKEN REVIEWS!!! ZOMFG!!!!!! -passes out-**

My chest was heaving with loud sobs. My vision was blurred and my cheeks stung from the hot tears flowing down them. I knew I wouldn't be able to make it back to the dorm in one piece. The halls were completely deserted, except for the stupid slut and the unfaithful mutt! The imprinting, it was a lie! All those times he'd said he loved me… ugh; I didn't want to think about it. The hatred I felt toward Asia was indescribable. Even if he hadn't faked the imprinting, then obviously even that wolfy spell wasn't enough to keep Seth with me. I was right, I wasn't good enough for him, and apparently, now he knew it, too.

I was at the door of my dorm now. I was positive Jade and Alice could hear my sobs from the inside of the room, but I heard no movement from the inside to come and try to open the door. But, then again, I couldn't hear anything except for my own cries. I hated Asia; I hated her so much more than any other being on the planet. And I hated myself. I hated myself for not being able to hate the dog that betrayed me. I didn't have it in me to hate Seth. Yes, he deceived me, but I still loved him, and I probably always would. I felt my body go limp as I hit the floor. I was curled into the fetal position when the door in front of me was thrown open and Alice and Jade were standing, staring, with identical masks of horror on their faces. My guess was Alice hadn't seen this coming.  
"Dear, God!" Jade cried. Alice bent down and scooped me up into her arms. I positioned my body to face away from the hallway so I could look into the bright, colorful dorm room. Or, I assumed it was colorful. Everything looked black and white through my eyes. The world lost its color, its life, its movement at that moment. It lost all emotion. Just like me.

Alice sat me down on her lap as she sat on my bed. I curled into her, resting my head on her shoulder as I continued to cry. Two hands rubbed my back in calming circles. I was able to differ Alice's ice cold hand from Jade's warm one easily. They were trying to comfort me, but their efforts led to no avail. I'd just watched the man I loved; who I thought would love me unconditionally forever, kissing a girl that seemed to walk straight out of my personal hell. I couldn't be comforted very easily.

"You want to talk about it, Jasmine?" Alice asked, her voice barely above a kind whisper.

I shook my head quickly, still sobbing. "No," I said through tears, wiping my face. "But I will anyway."

"You don't have to talk if you're not ready, honey," Jade assured me.

"No, no, I—" sob "—should tell you." I inhaled deeply, trying to compose myself, but choked on another sob before I could get enough air into my lungs. I broke into a cough attack and Alice patted my back lightly to try and steady me. When I could breathe again, I told them everything. At times, I wondered if they understood what I had been trying to tell them. I'd been crying so hard, I could barely comprehend myself.

"And so now I'm just thinking that all this so called love was a lie!" I ended with that, and a searing pain shot through me. It was so painful that I doubled over, clutching the place where my heart was to try and get it to go away. But the pain became sharper and sharper until it was at the point where I just couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. At first, I thought I was having a heart attack, but then, something else occurred to me.

Was this how it felt when a heart was breaking?

If such a thing were possible, I was sure this was how it would feel. Alice held me close to her, rubbing my back to try and calm me.

"I cannot believe it," Jade gasped. "He's… he's… Ugh, I hate him for doing this to her! How could he?!"

"There has to be some explanation," Alice reasoned. "It's not like Seth would just—"

"An _explanation_?!" Jade was angry. There was a fire in her eyes I'd never seen before. "An explanation for this?! For the fact that he was kissing a girl that _is not _the love of his life?! He's a liar! A cheat! Unfaithful, ungrateful, scum!"

"Don't talk about him that way!" I screamed. My cheeks were still wet and the bed sheets (not to mention Alice's shirt) showed the proof of my tears, but I wasn't crying anymore. Now, I was just angry. I looked up and saw that Jade was looking at me with a poor-girl-she's-probably-delusional expression on her face.

"I'm not crazy," I said sternly. "I'm serious. Don't. Talk. About. Him. That. Way."

Without a second thought, I carefully pulled myself out of Alice's arms and positioned myself to sit a few inches away from her. There was only one person I needed to talk to right now; the only person who will know exactly how I felt. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Leah's number. She answered on the first ring.

"Hey, Jasmine!" she greeted me. "I was hoping to hear from you soon. I just got settled in my new dorm and I'm waiting for my roommates to arrive. How's everything over there?"  
"Hey, Leah," I whispered. I tried to make my voice sound as happy as I could. But, as usual, Leah could tell something was wrong.

"Jasmine, what's going on?" she asked warily.

"I know how you feel now, Lee," I sighed.

"I'm not sure what you're getting at," she said.

Just then, there was a brief knock on the door. I pulled my knees to my chest and tried to focus on staying in one piece as I told Leah what had happened. I felt like a little girl, tattling on Seth to his big sister, but I scarcely cared. I needed to talk to someone who knew how I felt, someone who could empathize, because all I'd been getting before was sympathy, and while I was grateful that Alice and Jade cared about me, I knew sympathy wasn't what I needed now.

_**Jade's Point of View**_

"I'll get it," I whispered to Alice when someone knocked on the door. Jasmine was pouring her story out to Leah, Seth's sister. I couldn't wait to see what Leah would do. I hoped she'd give Seth a good butt kicking. He deserved it. So did Asia, for that matter. I hated them both so much. They hurt her. What kind of cruel person had the will to hurt such a sweet girl? He'd said he loved her. What a liar.

I could see in her eyes that she didn't hate him, and that was why she'd told me not to talk about him that way. I could also see that she still loved him more than her own life, and I could tell how much that hurt her. She was angry at him, she wanted to be able to hate him, but she couldn't. I understood that. I probably wouldn't have the strength to hate him, either. After all those times she told him she loved him… I couldn't believe he would throw that away.

I opened the door slowly and I felt the anger boil inside me when I saw who was at the door.

Seth.

That unfaithful loser had the guts to show his face here? Gosh, I wanted to kill him. I walked out of the dorm and closed the door behind me.

"What do you want?" I demanded. My eyes were narrowed as I looked up at him. His face was coated with sadness. Pure sadness. The kid was a good actor.

"Is Jasmine here?" His voice was desperate. He sounded as if he would go insane if he didn't see her. As if it mattered, he apparently was already insane.

"You disgust me," I sneered in his face. "After all the times she's told you she's loved you… She has been completely devoted to you all this time! And what did you do? You threw that away! How sick _are _you?!"

"Jade, please, please listen to me," he begged. Tears glistened in his eyes and every movement he made was filled with agony. "That wasn't what it looked like!"

I slapped him hard across his face. He flinched to the side, but it didn't seem to hurt him much. In fact, it probably hurt me more than it hurt him. My hand was red and throbbing from the impact, but I was too angry to care.

"Please, just please. I've heard that line enough times to know when it's a lie. You did this to her! Jasmine could've had a heart attack from how hard she was crying! You _hurt _her! I'll never forgive you for it, and I really hope she doesn't either!"

"Jade, let me explain!" he cried. His cheeks were wet with almost as many tears as Jasmine's had been. His entire body shook with sobs and the anguish was evident in his face. He looked like he was living Jasmine's pain. The look in his eyes—that was what made me step back, cross my arms across my chest, and prepare to listen. Pain like that couldn't be faked. This was real, and he obviously wasn't lying.

"Asia ran into me in the hall," he said, trying to control himself. "She told me what happened and tried to convince me to break up with Jasmine. She tried telling me that she was better for me." He rolled his tearful eyes. "When she heard Jasmine coming, she did the unthinkable."

I rolled my eyes. "Please, just please," I repeated. "Why is it that I don't believe you?"

His expression became one of pleading again. "I'll get her to admit it! But I need you to let me see Jasmine first. I have to explain, tell her I'm sorry. She needs to know what really happened." He looked away for a moment, and when he looked back, I couldn't look him in the eye. I'd never seen such a pained expression on anyone. It was like there was a light inside of him, but it was going out quickly, and he was hanging by a moment, trying to save it from extinguishing completely. But the anguish… the anguish itself was just too much for me to bear. I turned around and put the key back in the lock. I opened the door and peeked inside.

"Jasmine?" I said. "There's someone here to see you."

_**Jasmine's Point of View **_

"Oh, my gosh," Leah gasped. "Jasmine, I'm so sorry. I don't know how he could've done that."

"Leah? Was this how you felt? When Sam…?" I let my voice trail off. I heard her suck in her breath.

"Yeah," she said. I could tell she was trying to hold back tears. "Life's a jerk."

I choked on a sob and couldn't say anything.

Leah was full blown crying now. Hearing her tears made me cry as well.

"Jasmine, I don't think the imprinting was a lie. You can't fake the love that my brother felt toward you. And, as far as I'm concerned, nothing out there is strong enough to break an imprint."

"As far as _you _know," I retorted. "It could be possible! It could be!" I was sobbing loudly by this time. Alice was rubbing my back in comforting circles, a look of frustration on her face. Of course. Seth was a wolf, she couldn't have seen this coming, she shouldn't have warned me, and she couldn't have stopped this.

"Jasmine?" Jade's sweet voice came from the doorway. "There's someone here to see you."

"Leah, hold on a second." I lowered the phone from my ear and cocked my head to the side. "Who is it?" I asked.

Jade stepped aside and opened the door. My hand flew to my mouth when Seth stepped inside the room. Jade clasped her hands together behind her back and shrugged sheepishly.

"He convinced me," she whispered so low I could barely hear her. I didn't know what to say. I couldn't get rid of the elated feeling in the pit of my stomach that I always felt when I saw Seth. But, then again, I couldn't get rid of the frustration and anger I felt, either. What really got me, though, was that the frustration and anger wasn't with Seth—it was with me. I was frustrated and angry with the fact that I couldn't be frustrated _or _angry with the person who just betrayed me. But I decided to listen to what he had to say. If he convinced Jade—who always saw easily past deceptions—then there was probably nothing to be angry or frustrated about in the first place.

I looked up from my hands and back to Seth. The expression on his face made my tears start flowing again. It seemed to me that he was feeling my exact pain. I gulped. Of course he was—I was his imprint. My pain was his.

"Hi," I whispered.

"Hi," he said back. He sat down on the corner of my bed, clearly not sure if he should sit by me or not. I scooted closer and closer until my knee was touching his. I picked up my phone again and held it to my ear.

"Leah? I'm gonna have to call you back," I said.

"What?! No! He's there, isn't he?! Let me talk to him!" she screamed in my ear.

"Leah, no," I said sternly. "I can handle this alone. I don't need the Big Bad Wolf to come help me."

"Let her talk to me," Seth said. "I probably deserve the verbal abuse she's about to give me." He reached his hand out and I reluctantly handed him the phone.

"Hello?" he said into the receiver. Soon, I could hear Leah's screaming coming from the phone. She was angry—it didn't take a genius to figure that out.

"AND DON'T BOTHER TRYING TO WIN HER BACK!" Leah's words were loud and clear—so loud and clear that I could hear them. The dial tone was the next thing I heard. When he closed the phone and handed it back to me, his expression was one of shock and hurt.

"She had a lot to say," he said softly. "And I deserved every word."

"Alice?" I turned around to face her. "Jade? Can we get a moment?"

"Sure," Alice said reluctantly. She was looking at Seth with angry, disappointed eyes as she and Jade walked out of the room. "We'll be right down the hall if you need us." And with that, she closed the door, and both of them were gone. I leaned forward to rest my head on Seth's shoulder. I looked up at him through my tears.

"I still love you," I said to him. "But I don't understand how you could do that to me."

"I didn't," he sighed. He put one arm around my waist and pulled me onto his lap. I curled up and laid my head on his chest, biting my lip to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill over. "I swear, I would never hurt you intentionally."

"Then, why?!" I cried. "Why did you kiss her?! Did you not at any moment think of how this would make me feel, Seth? Did you?"  
"I didn't do it," he said. I felt his tears on my head, but I didn't look up. "My angel, please, believe me. This wasn't my fault. It was that wretched Asia. She heard you coming and decided to…" His voice trailed off silently and sadly.

"I don't know what to believe," I admitted. "I know you'd never hurt me, but what happened today was just too much. I still love you, and I'll always love you, no matter if you feel the same or not."

"Of course I love you," he said. "Please, Jasmine, please believe me."

"I—I—I," I didn't know what to say to him. I wanted to just throw my arms around him and tell him that I believed every word he said, but the events had left me so shaken. I wasn't thinking straight… at all.

"Oh, God, yes, damn it, it was my fault."

That voice sent shivers up and down my spine. My head snapped up and I saw Asia entering the room, a look of clear annoyance on her face.

"Jade and Little Miss Pixie caught up to me," she said, not moving from her place next to the door. "They said that if Jasmine's sobbing caused her a heart attack, it would be my fault. So, yes, Jasmine, I heard you coming, decided to get you back for punching me. And, well, I guess I'm sorry I almost wrecked your relationship and I'm sorry I almost caused you a heart attack." She opened the door and peaked outside. "Can I go now?" she called to—undoubtedly—Alice.

"Did you apologize?" she asked.

"Ugh, yes, Pixie Chick, I did," Asia groaned.

"You can go, then," Alice said. She and Jade came back into the room as Asia swept out of it. I rested my head on Seth's shoulder again and wrapped my arms tightly around him.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you," I said. "I wasn't thinking straight. I wasn't sure."

Seth put a finger to my lips. "This wasn't your fault." He leaned down to brush his lips against my forehead. "I don't blame you for anything." He leaned down even farther to whisper in my ear. "Well, I only blame you for stealing my heart."

My hands floated up above me and wrapped around his neck. I pulled myself close to him and regretted every single bad word I'd thought of him. Silently, I begged for his forgiveness.

"I just couldn't bear the thought of losing you to someone else—especially not _her_." I refused to say her name at this point. I despised her.

"If you think I can ever love someone besides you, you're crazy," he said. He took my face delicately in his hands and planted a sweet, tender kiss on my lips. I took it upon myself to deepen the kiss to the point where Alice—the one who'd always told Jasper to lighten up—had to clear her throat in a parental manner.

"Jasper's starting to rub off on me," she whispered half to herself.

I pulled away from Seth and smiled at him, breathing heavily.

"Jasmine, you know there are people in here, right?" Jade teased.

"No one said you had to watch," I laughed.

"Seth, I think you better get going. Emmett and Jasper are probably wondering where you are."

"Rooming with Emmett?" Jade asked, raising an eyebrow. "I feel sorry for you."

"I feel sorry for myself," Seth grunted. I slowly moved off of him and he stood up. I followed him to the door.

"I'm really… really sorry about that," I said to him for what seemed like the billionth time. "I had no clue."

"Like I said, I don't blame you," he insisted. He pressed his lips to my hair. "Just know that'll never happen again."

I smiled as he caressed my face.

"These next few years are going to be great. Terribly interesting and probably full of much excitement, but great," I said, smiling up at him.

"See you tomorrow, then?" he asked.

"It's a date."

I hugged him one last time before tearing myself away from him and allowing him to leave. I shut the door and plopped face down on my bed.

"God, I love him," I said into a fluffy black pillow.

"We see that," Jade giggled. "Anyway, I'm glad that's done and done. Now we can get on to other matters. For example: what am I going to wear tomorrow?!"

I flipped over soon enough to see Alice's face brighten.

"I can help you with that!" she squealed. As the two of them started rummaging through their luggage and putting clothes in a closet, I rolled over onto my back.

"How fun will my time here be?" I whispered to myself. I could tell Jade hadn't heard me—she kept fawning over the clothing Alice had brought—but Alice flashed me a blinding smile.

_Very fun_. Her silent answer echoed through my head. And I had to agree. My time here would be very fun.

**Author's Note: Can the death threats stop now? Please? I was starting to sleep with a bat next to my bed for protection x.x Haha. But, seriously, if you look next to my bed, there's a metal bat there, I put an extra lock on my window, and I lock the door that leads to the garage every night... seriously... one of my readers lives right down the street from me and knows the combination to get into my hourse through my garage... (stand up, Nayeli, you know who you are xD)**

**Anyhow, I've decided to take one of my reviewers' suggestions and totally skip the rest of her time here at Harvard. I'm really sorry to all those who were expecting to know what her classes were like and stuff, but the only experience I have with Harvard is from watching Legally Blonde (yeah, I'm a dork, criticize me for it later) and I don't think you guys wanna hear bout Elle Woods. O.O So, yeah, terribly sorry bout that, folks. Please don't be too upset with me! (But you guys can go ahead and be upset with Asia, I don't mind :D) Uh huh, so, yeah… Press that magical little review button and make me happy, please! ;D Also, many of you haven't voted for your favorite story idea for my /next/ story and I'd really appreciate it if you did that, kay? Thanks! **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Sorry for the huge disappointment in last chapter's A/N. But I just don't know what any of the classes would be like (or what they would teach, for that matter) so I had to skip it. Please don't be too upset with me!**

"Finally, it's over," Emmett groaned in relief. We were stepping out of the car—Seth and I had ridden with Emmett and Rosalie this time—and onto the driveway of the Cullen house. The tassel of my graduation cap was dangling in front of my face and I lifted my hand to swipe it to the side. I stood up inside the Jeep to make my way out when strong, warm hands caught my waist from the outside of the car. Seth lifted me out of the car and I smiled as my feet crunched against the gravel of the driveway. I was home again, and oh, how much I had missed it.

"You'd think after how many years of college I'd be used to it," Emmett muttered as he piled several large suitcases into his arms to carry into the house.

"No one ever gets used to school, Em." Rosalie sighed and rolled her eyes. "I mean, come on, it's _school_. No matter what school, it's still sick, disgusting, totally pointless school."

"Oh, my kids are home!" Esme's singsong voice came trilling from the doorway. She scurried down the steps of the porch to come and hug each of us.

"Hey, Esme." I laughed as she squeezed Seth and me at the same time. "We're glad to be home."

"We're glad to have you home!" she said. "Carlisle would've loved to have been here to welcome you home, but he was needed at the hospital."

"We'll see him tonight," Edward said, walking towards us, one arm around Bella. "Nice to see you again, Esme." He gave his adoptive mother a one armed hug and Bella did the same.

"Mommy, Daddy!" Renesmee came bouncing down the driveway and I completely lost my breath when I saw her. She was so much taller now, her voice more mature. Her hair was longer—if that was even possible—and the girl looked around eighteen. She hugged her parents tightly, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I'm so happy you're home!" she cried. Nessie leaned back from her embrace and I saw Edward and Bella's eyes were as wide as those of a dear in headlights. I could've sworn I saw tears glisten in Bella's eyes, but of course that wasn't possible.

"Renesmee," she whispered. "You've grown so much."

"Aw, Mom," Nessie said, hugging Bella. "Don't be sad. I'm still your little Nessie. I'm just… taller. Now where is…" Nessie looked around until she spotted me. "Jasmine!" She bounded forward and threw her arms around me.

"Renesmee Carlie Cullen!" I exclaimed. "You're taller than I am!" Maybe Bella couldn't cry, but I sure could. My vision was blurred by tears which I blinked away quickly. "You're only seven years old."

"Seven years go by fast!" she giggled. "And how old are _you _now, Jasmine? Thirty, right?" She smirked. She knew how much I dreaded that age.

I grimaced. "Very funny. No, Nessie, I'm twenty-one, thank you very much. Going on twenty-two."

"You're a little short for twenty-one, Jasmine," she teased.

"Excuse me, but I think five-foot-five is a perfectly nice height." I smiled. "At least I'm not an eight year old who looks eighteen!"

Our playful bickering continued while everyone else worked on unloading our luggage from the cars—which took about two minutes. I was laughing and teasing Nessie when a short, pixie-haired hurricane came spinning toward me.

"Alice," I groaned. "What now?"

"Hello!" She knocked on the side of my head. "Have you forgotten our appointment?"

"Appointment?" Okay, yes, I had forgotten. "What appointment."

Alice rolled her eyes and smacked her head against her palm. "Do the words _Etoile Bridal _ring a bell?"

"Oh, right." Etoile Bridal was one of the bigger bridal stores in Port Angeles. Alice, Rosalie, Esme, Nessie, and Bella had all committed to helping me find my perfect wedding dress today. I was getting married in August, so that only gave us three months. But, knowing the Cullen girls, they probably already had more than half of the planning done.

Alice widened her eyes and motioned toward the Jeep.

"So," she said, "let's go, then! We don't have all day! Rosalie, Esme! Hurry up!"

Before I could blink, I was sitting in the back seat, seatbelt on, with Nessie and Rose sitting next to me. Gosh, I hated when they did that. Esme was sitting in the front seat and Alice put the car into drive.

"We'll be back later!" Alice called out her window to Jasper and Seth who stood, confused, on the doorstep of the house. "Love you!"

"You didn't tell them?" I asked Alice once her window was rolled up.

"Nope," she said. "I wanted them to be surprised. Anyway, I already have all the invitations sent out for your wedding."

"Who is there to invite, anyway, besides the pack, Jade, and Ali?" I asked.

"Well, you don't know them personally," Alice said. "But I'm sure I've told you about them. I sent invitations to Tanya and her family. They've wanted to meet you. Nessie convinced me to send invites to the Amazons, too. Peter and Charlotte—Jasper's friends from his time with Maria, if you remember when we told you about that—said they'd be around here in the summer so we asked them to come to. I hope you don't mind."

I vaguely remembered the names from the times that I'd asked Alice to tell me stories about the days before I joined the Cullens.

"I don't mind," I said.

"Have you chosen a maid of honor yet, Jasmine?" Rosalie asked me. She was looking in the small mirror she carried in her pocket and fluffing her hair. As if she needed to—the girl looked perfect anyway.

"I have, actually," I said. "I just… haven't asked her yet."

"She's asking Jade eventually," Alice said. She turned back and winked at me. "She'll say yes, no worries."

I let out a sigh of relief. There was one thing I didn't have to worry about anymore.

"Esme?" Alice asked. "Did you call and see if that church in Bellingham would be available for the wedding?"

Esme nodded. "I have it covered. They said you can go at any time to see the inside and decide on the décor."

"Fabulous!" Alice squealed.

"Alice?" I asked. "Jasper… is he going to give me away?"

Alice was turned away from me, but I could almost see her smirk. "I dunno. Why don't you ask him?"

I laughed and sighed. "Can someone give me a phone? I left mine at home."

"Jasmine, asking Jasper to give you away isn't something you can do over the phone," Esme chastised. "Besides, I'm sure you'll want to see his face when you ask. For being an empathic vampire, the boy hardly ever gets seriously emotional. It might be nice to see something other than Alice light up his face for a change."

I rolled my eyes and turned my head to look behind us. I could faintly see disappearing red and blue lights and hear a siren.

"Alice," I said. "Um… shouldn't you, I dunno, slow down?"

"Nah," she said. "We're almost there anyway. Just have to go a little faster."

She pressed down hard on the gas pedal and the car lurched forward. I gripped Rosalie's arm and she brushed me off, annoyed.

"Jeez, Alice isn't gonna kill us," she said. "She knows what she's doing."

I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I freak out easily."

"We know." The two words echoed through the car, coming from Alice, Esme, Rosalie, and Nessie.

"Well," I gasped, pretending to be offended.

Eventually, Alice pulled into one of those huge, four-story parking lots. She drove to the top and parked the Jeep in the farthest, loneliest corner. We all put on our jackets and stepped out into the cold rain. I shivered and rubbed my arms to try and warm myself. Renesmee draped one arm around my shoulder. Her natural body heat seeped through my thick jacket and warmed my freezing skin.

"Thanks, Ness," I said.

She smirked. "No problem."

We took an elevator down to the main floor. From there, we walked for a couple of minutes until we reached a large store with four different large, white, poufy dresses in the window. Esme held the door open for us and we all walked in. A lady with short black and purple streaked hair and a smile as fake as Pamela Anderson's boobs came to greet us. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped in surprise when she saw Rosalie and Alice, then stumbled back a foot as she took in Esme and Nessie. Her expression became one of mild disappointment and some relief when she saw me.

"Hello!" she said, too perkily. "Welcome to Etoile Bridal! My name is Alana, how may I help you?"

"We're looking for a wedding dress," Rosalie said, clearly annoyed by Alana.

"Oh! And may I ask who the bride is?" She looked at Rosalie, Esme, Alice, and Nessie, clearly counting me out.

"Oh, the three of us are already married," Alice said, motioning to herself, Rose, and Esme.

"Well, then." Alana walked closer to Renesmee. "Which of these two young ladies is it?"

I raised my hand and waved at her.

"Oh." Her smile became even more bogus than before—if that was possible. "And your name?" she asked.

"Jasmine," I said. "Jasmine Cullen."

"Soon to be Clearwater." Nessie giggled.

"Interesting. The gowns are over here." Alana turned around and started leading us through the large store. It was even bigger than it looked on the outside.

"Here we are," she announced when she stopped in the middle of a large circle of wedding dresses. "Now, just call me if you need anything." Then, finally, she walked away.

"I don't like her," Rosalie muttered under her breath.

"Neither did I," Esme said. "Did you see the way she was looking at Jasmine?"

"Problematic," Alice sang.

"I seriously hope this doesn't turn out like an overly dramatic episode of _Say Yes to the Dress_," I mumbled.

"Anyway, Jasmine," Alice said, "you sit here." She pushed me down into a faux white leather chair. "We'll bring you dresses."

"Hey!" I protested. "Don't I have a say in what dress I wear for the most important day of my life?"

Alice's bottom lip stuck out in a resigned pout. "Fine." She frowned. "C'mon."

I followed Alice to the first rack of dresses. Whenever she came upon a dress she thought was nice, she'd stop, stare at it for a moment, and then sometimes she'd fling it into my arms or back onto the hanger. Once my arms were stacked so high with poufy dresses that I couldn't see, Alice started piling them onto Nessie's arms, then Rosalie's, then Esme's, then Bella's, until she had to use her own as well. When neither of us could carry anymore (and still look human), we made our way over to the dressing rooms. Nessie, Rosalie, Esme, and Bella each gave the dresses they held to Alice who followed me into a dressing room. She put all the dresses on a large chair and I did the same with my pile.

"Well," Alice exhaled sharply. "Looks like we've got a long day ahead of us." She surveyed the seen in front of her. "Show us every dress. And, I mean it, Jasmine, _every _dress. We'll help you pick. Good luck!" And with that, she swept out of the room, leaving me with a million dresses to try on.

I picked up the first dress without really looking at it. I closed my eyes and slipped it on as quickly as I could. I was turned away from the mirror, but I could tell it wasn't a traditional gown. Well, maybe it could still be nice—

I turned toward the mirror and only three words went through my head.

Oh, hell no.

It was the shortest dress I'd seen in my entire life. It hugged my hips tightly and the neck stretched down to my waist. Not only that, but it was sleeveless.

"Jasmine, come out and show it to us!" Alice called much too innocently.

"Alice, I am not going out there in this!" I screamed. My eyes were wide in mortification.

"C'mon!" Alice whined. "It can't be that bad!" Her voice was smug—she knew _exactly _how bad it was.

I reluctantly stepped out of the dressing room, trying my hardest to cover myself with my arms. Esme raised a hand to her mouth to muffle her laughter. Nessie, Alice, Bella, and Rose weren't nearly as polite.

"Okay, I changed my mind," Alice said through her hysterics. "It _can _be that bad."

I grimaced and stared daggers at her. My head whipped to the side when I heard a familiar voice.

"Sorry I'm late," Leah said, digging in her purse. "There was so much traffic—" She stopped when she saw me. Her eyes widened and she dropped her bag. "Please tell me you didn't pick that," she said.

I frowned and shook my head. "Of course I didn't." I pointed an accusing finger at the five Cullens girls. "One of them did."

Leah laughed. "_Why_?"

"I haven't a clue. Can I change now?" I begged.

Alice nodded. "Go ahead, I've had my laugh." She smirked. I rolled my eyes and was about to go back into the dressing room when a Vietnamese whirlwind came into the room.

"Leah!" Jade whined. "I told you not to walk so fast! I'm wearing sneakers today, remember?"

"Jade!" I screamed when I saw her. "What are you doing here?"

"Leah picked me up on her way here!" I was about to hug her when she stepped back from me, a surprised expression on her face. "And what are you doing in that? Please tell me that's not your wedding dress."

"Oh, come on, I think it's cute," Nessie lied through giggles.

"As if I would dress like a hooch for my wedding day!" I screamed. I turned on my heel and stormed back into the dressing room.

"Was that really necessary, Alice?" I heard Esme ask.

"Of course not, but I was bored," Alice answered. The seven of them exploded into laughter as I slipped the next dress over my head and fought to pull the zipper up. The day continued in a calmer manner, until all the dresses that had been piled up for me had been tried on and not liked.

"This is hopeless," I sighed as I plopped down in between Esme and Jade in a large, Cinderella-style gown. "Esme? How did you know which dress was, you know, _the _dress?"

"Well, it's hard to explain, dear," she sighed. "I guess you just… know. I didn't even have mine zipped up before I knew it was the one. You get a feeling and you just know that that is the dress you're going to walk down the aisle in."

"Well, then," I said, fighting to get up. Jade gave me a small push and I rose to my feet. "Maybe we should call it a day. We can try again tomorrow."

"Oh, no," Alice argued, rising and putting her hands on her hips. "I promised you I would find you the perfect wedding dress and, so help me, I will. Why don't you and Jade stay here? The rest of us can go find more dresses for you to try on." When the six of them were gone, I turned to face Jade.

"I'm sorry you're stuck here," I said.

"Sorry? I love being here to help you pick out your wedding dress. Jasmine, you're my best friend. Of course I want to be here for you."

"Aw," I said, touching the spot where my heart was. "You're my best friend, too. Jade, please, would you be my maid of honor?"

Tears glistened in her eyes—something I hadn't seen since the first day we met. I expected her to bite her lip to keep her eyes from overflowing, but the tears came freely as she hugged me.

"Maid of honor," she whispered once she pulled back. "I like the sound of that."

"So you'll do it?" I asked, my face brightening.

"Of course I will!" she squealed. I laughed and gave her another hug.

"Thanks," I said.

"My pleasure," she responded.

"We have more dresses!" Alice sang as she trotted into the room, piles of fluffy garments trailing in behind her.

"You can leave the dresses on those chairs in the dressing room," she said to Esme and the others.

"Oh, boy," I grunted, hoisting myself up off the chair I'd been sitting on. I lifted the skirt of the dress as I walked back into the dressing room.

I pulled my hands behind my back to try and undo the clasp at the top of the gown I was currently in. I had just managed to unfasten the clasp when I saw it.

Within the white and ivory fabrics of the dresses available for me to try on, I caught a glimpse of the corner of a skirt the color of a unique oyster pearl, of the dawn.

Of the shell around my neck.

I made my way toward it and pulled at the swatch of fabric I saw, knocking down about twelve dresses in the progress. I slipped out of the Cinderella dress I had on and into the gown I held in my hands. I turned slowly toward the mirror and took in what I saw.

The pearly pink silk was soft against my skin. It was strapless with a single ruche in the corner. The edges of it were delicately decorated and there was an excited feel growing in the pit of my stomach. I rushed out of the dressing room as quickly as I could. Alana was there, talking to Alice animatedly about something, but all heads turned when they heard me.

"Oh, my, Jasmine, you look amazing, darling, here, let me look at you." Esme stood up slowly and walked over to me to examine every inch of the dress. Alice looked as if she would be crying if such a thing were possible.

"This is it," I said, trying to push away a sob of happiness. "This is my dress, _the _dress."

"I love it," Jade sighed. "You look spectacular."

I turned around to face the mirror again. "You really think so?" I asked, a smile stretching broadly across my face.

"Totally," Leah said.

"Absolutely," Nessie chimed in.

"Completely," Bella laughed.

"I haven't seen anyone look that nice in a wedding dress since the day I got married," Rosalie sighed. "That's a compliment, by the way."

"Are you sure?" Alana pressured. "There are so many more gowns…"  
Alice held up a finger to stop her. "If Jasmine says that this is the dress, then it's the dress. Where do I pay?" Alice pulled a clear card out of her purse and looked expectantly at Alana.

"Mrs. Cullen, is it? Surely, you'd like to know the price first," Alana said.

"A price is but a number," Alice said. I snickered—that was her favorite saying. "Now, where can I pay?"

Alana—about as pale as Alice was—turned and lead Alice away. I went back into the dressing room to change back into my normal clothes. I couldn't believe that after nine hours of trying on gowns, I'd actually found the one.

I put the dress back inside its plastic bag and carried it out of the dressing room where Esme was waiting.

"Here, let me take that for you," she offered, extending her arms to receive the dress.

"It's all right, Esme. I want to carry it. Thanks, anyway."

Esme smiled warmly at me. "All right. Let's go, the girls are waiting for us."

We made our way through the racks of clothes and other brides trying to find their perfect dress, and I took comfort in the fact that I was one step ahead of them all. I held my dress close to me when we stepped out into the drizzle. I practically ran when I saw the Jeep and stepped inside quickly, slamming the door behind me.

The ride home was silent except for the steady sound of raindrops against the windows. I took comfort in their soothing sound until we arrived home. Alice took my dress from me and hurried inside while I walked slowly in the rain, lifting my head so that the drops fell on my face. When I finally got inside, I shook myself and raindrops went flying in different directions.

"Alice, several packages came for you while you were out," Jasper said, motioning to a stack of large cardboard boxes.

"Oh, goody!" Alice squealed. She picked up all the boxes in one hand, grabbed my wrist in the other, and flew up the stairs. Once we were in her room, I sat down on the bed, breathless.

"What are those?" I asked when I could breathe again.

Alice smiled at me. "Dresses," she answered.

"What kind of dresses?" I pressed.

"Bridesmaid dresses, a maid of honor dress…"

"How did you know which ones to get?" I asked. "You didn't know—wait. You knew what dress I was going to pick, didn't you?"

"Maybe," she teased.

"Alice!" I groaned. "You made me go through all that for nothing?"

"Oh, c'mon, I thought you liked doing things normally."

"I guess you're right," I decided. "Thanks."

"No problem," she said, tearing the final box open. "You think Jade will like this?" Alice held up a silky light pink dress with detailed beading at the bust.

"Wouldn't you know?" I teased. "I'm sure she'll love it."

Next, Alice laid out a small pink dress with an ivory sash tied at the waist.

"I knew you'd want Claire as your flower girl," she said. "I called Emily and got her measurements."

"Thanks," I said. "And the bridesmaid dresses?"

"I got five of them," Alice said, showing me a beautiful tea-length dress. "One for Bella, one for Rose, Leah, Nessie, and Ali."

"And what about for you?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm not a bridesmaid," she said.

"You're not?" I asked, confused.

"Nope," she said. "I'm the mother of the bride, remember? So I'll be wearing this." She pulled a light dress with thin straps and a diamond broach out of a box.

"Mother of the bride," I whispered. "Of course."

I hugged Alice tightly, wanting so much to express my gratitude for everything she'd done for me. I knew words would fail me, but there had to be a way to thank her.

"You're welcome," she said, as if she'd read my thoughts. "For everything."

I smiled at her and reached up to wipe the tears I was sure were coming, but my eyes were dry. Was it possible to be so happy that even tears would fail to form?

Well, yes, yes it was.

**Author's Note: M'kay, so, it's four in the morning… And I'm uploading a chapter. Yeah, I'm insane, whatever. Anyway, I added pictures of the stuff mentioned in this chapter to my website, so you might wanna check that out. Tell me what you think! ^^**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Definitely the longest chapter I have ever written XD Playlist for this chapter is: Keep Holding On by Avril Lavigne, Only Hope by Mandy Moore, Heaven by I dun remember (but look up the slow version if ya know who sings it), So I Thought by Flyleaf, Dancing by Elisa, and Your Guardian Angel by the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. ^_^**

The last couple months had been full of excitement. Alice and Esme were doing the best they could to give me the wedding of my dreams, Rose and Bella were helping me through emotional stress, and I grew more and more in love with Seth every day. At the moment, I was sitting on a vanity chair in front of a mirror in a hotel in Bellingham on my wedding day. The nerves hadn't exactly kicked in yet—I'd been moving all day in a daze, fearing that I would close my eyes and wake up to find myself back in the orphanage, having it all been just a dream. Every time I blinked, I breathed a sigh of relief because I was still in the same room with the same vampires and humans I loved hurrying around me.

I hadn't seen Seth in over twenty-four hours and I was going mildly insane. Alice wouldn't even let me call him. So there I sat, in my wedding dress, Ali, Rose, and Jade working hard on my hair as Alice—her usual pixie hair curled—and Bella worked on getting all my accessories ready. Esme was somewhere finishing up last minute arrangements. Charlotte—who I'd met about two days ago—and Nessie were "making sure my transportation was ready," as they'd put it. It seemed everyone was ready—except for me, of course.

"Jade, how's her hair coming?" Alice asked frantically. "One hour!" she called. Her voice echoed throughout the large hotel suite.

"She's almost done," Jade responded. "I just need to take out a few more curlers."

"Excellent," Alice said. She came up in front of me and put a pair of gorgeous high heels in front of my feet. "Put them on," she instructed. I did as she said.

"All right," Rose said. "She's done."

"Jasmine, you can stand up now," Ali said. She twirled toward the bed, her bridesmaid dress billowing softly around her, and sat down, exhausted. I stood up slowly and made my way toward the full-length mirror in the corner of the room. I sighed and tried to hold back tears when I saw my reflection.

"You look lovely," Alice whispered in my ear. She had her hands on my shoulders and I whirled around to face her, throwing my arms around her waist. She patted my back lightly.

"Thank you so much for this," I said. "Your mother of the bride dress suits you nicely, by the way." I didn't look around to make sure Jade or Ali hadn't heard me. I'd been allowed to fill them in on the major details by now, minus the vampire stuff, of course. I didn't want them to question why Jasper was giving me away instead of Carlisle or why Alice had the title of mother of the bride.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Turn around," she instructed. I turned to face the mirror again and Alice stood on her toes and reached up to place an intricately designed tiara on my head.

"I wore this when I married Jasper," she announced. "I was rather fond of it. I'm hoping you will be, too. Something old…"

I couldn't stop the tears this time. Alice loving me enough to let me borrow something of such great value to her meant so much.

"Your shoes are new, by the way," she said, smiling.

"And you'll need something borrowed," Jade said. "My dad gave me these when I was five. They were always too big for me up until about a year ago, but I never took them off, anyway. I want you to carry some of me as you walk down the aisle." She pulled up my arm and slipped several pink and ivory pearl bracelets on my wrist. I hugged her tightly.

"Thanks so much," I whispered. "This… this means a lot," I sighed.

"And, of course, something blue." Ali walked up to me and fastened a golden heart necklace around my neck with a blue gem in the middle. It hung just below my seashell.

"It was my great-great-great grandmother's to begin with. She passed it down to her daughter, who passed it down to her daughter, and so forth until my mom gave it to me. Hope you like it."  
I looked down and held the shiny pendant in my hands. It sparkled, even in the dim light of the room.

"It's beautiful," I said. "Thank you."

Alice looked at the diamond studded watch on her wrist.

"Oh, my, we better get going," she said, rushing over to the coat rack to grab her purse. "There's a long way up that mountain and we don't want to be late."

I hurried to pick up my skirt and scurried after everyone.

"Come on, we're going to be late," Claire said as soon as we exited the room. She was wearing her flower girl dress along with a small tiara, carrying a basket full of jasmine flowers. I smiled—Alice must have made sure she had those. I reached down to give Claire a hug.

"We know, we know," I said before continuing to walk, Claire trailing behind me. Once we were outside, Alice opened the door for me so I could climb into her Porsche. Jade and Ali sat in the back.

"Here we go," Alice grunted. She stomped on the gas pedal and the car pitched forward.

"What is she doing?" Jade cried from the back seat. I looked back and saw that she and Ali were holding on to each other as if for dear life.

"Being Alice," I answered, laughing. "Don't worry. She drives like this all the time. Girl's never been in an accident or even gotten a ticket."

That seemed to relax both of them. They settled back into their seat and the only visible tense parts of them were their shaking hands.

It wasn't long before I started smelling the fresh ocean air. Seconds later, we were pulling up to a small parking lot-like space where a few other cars were parked. It was next to a tall cliff, one with a small white church on the top.

"I can't believe it," I whispered as I stepped—very carefully—out of the car. I looked behind me and saw Alice, Rose, Ali, Jade, Nessie, Esme, Charlotte, Bella, and Claire. Alice skipped forward and around the bend. When I caught up to her, she was petting a white horse.

"Alice," I started carefully, "what is that?"

"It's a horse, silly," she said. "You didn't think I was going to make you _walk _up there, did you?"

"Well… no, but I thought you might have chosen something else."

"Well, I didn't, and this is Persephone. She'll be your form of transportation for the day."

I walked cautiously toward Persephone and stroked her neck. She nuzzled her nose into my hand playfully.

"There's a good girl," I cooed. "So, I'll be riding her?"

"Side saddle!" Alice said. She helped me get on the horse and drape my skirt properly over my legs.

"Let's go!" Rose said. "We're going to be late!"

Jade and Esme helped Alice lead the horse up a wide trail. The sun wasn't strong enough to make me sweat, but the nerves growing in my stomach were. I had waiting for them to hit since last night, and when they did come, they attacked me like a wrecking ball. I started shaking so much that little Claire had to reach up and say, "Don't worry, Jazzy, you'll be okay! Just breathe!"

I smiled down at her and tried to control the shaking of my hands and legs. "I'll do my best," I laughed and ruffled her hair slightly.

When we reached the top, Jasper—looking extremely nice in his tux—came jogging up to us.

"Great," he said, giving Alice a hug and peck on the cheek. "You just made it." He lifted his eyes and smiled widely when he saw me. "Oh, Jasmine, you look amazing. I haven't seen anyone look so beautiful in a wedding dress since the day I married Alice."

"Thanks, Dad," I said openly blushing.

He helped lift me off the horse and I gave Persephone a kiss on her muzzle before Esme led her off to somewhere else.

"Wish me luck," I whispered, even though the horse was too far away from me to hear me.

"There they are!" Edward sighed loudly in relief. "I was beginning to think you girls were going to be late." He handed each of my bridesmaids a small bouquet of jasmines and Jade was given one that was slightly larger. Edward handed mine to Jasper and he put it in my hand and showed me how to grasp it firmly—as if I needed the direction.

"Are you breathing?" he asked.

I nodded. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the girls lining up outside the doors of the church, and Esme slipping into it.

"Are you going to faint?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"Are you sure?"

"Goodness, Jasper, yes, she's sure!" Alice sighed, exasperated. "Now, stop stalling. I bet she's calmer than you."

"I would know," he said, smiling goofily.

"All right, I have to go take my seat," Alice said. She gave me a tight squeeze and kissed both of my cheeks. "My darling Jasmine, you look so beautiful today." She put one hand on my shoulder and sighed. "Your mother and father would have been so proud. I'm sure they're smiling down on you at this very moment."

I sniffled and blinked back tears. "Thank you, Alice. I love you."

"I love you, too," she said. She gave Jasper and me one more hug and twirled off to enter the church. Jasper and I stood behind Jade and then the church doors opened up wide. I bit my lip hard, trying to hide the tears. I just couldn't believe it. I was going to fulfill my destiny in a matter of minutes and head into my perfect forever. Ali walked in first, then Rose, Bella, Leah, Nessie, Jade, Claire, until it was finally my turn. The song that Edward had been playing on my piano inside morphed into the wedding march. I took a deep breath, tightened my arm around Jasper's, and took a quick step forward.

"Easy there, Jasmine," Jasper whispered.

I took another deep breath and took my next step slower. All the heads in the church turned to watch me enter. As I walked forward on the flower petals Claire was dropping on the white carpet, I couldn't help but admire the decoration. In the pews I could see the familiar faces of Emily, Sam and the other wolves, the Denali coven, the Amazons, and, of course, the rest of the Cullens. Eventually, my eyes drifted upward and I saw Seth's handsome, glowing face. He met my eyes and smiled wider than he had before. I returned the favor.

A few more steps—eighteen to be exact—Jasper and I were standing to the side of Seth and the minister.

"Who gives this woman to be married to this man?" the minister asked in a powerful voice.

"Her adoptive mother and I do," Jasper answered. He placed my hand in Seth's and my heart started racing.

As the minister continued to speak, I couldn't help but glance up at Seth about a million times. His face glowed with pride and happiness each time, and I could've sworn I saw tears glisten in his eyes. I stole a glance to the side to look at the people sitting in the pews.

Alice sat in the front row, next to Esme and Carlisle. Tanya caught my eye and smiled encouragingly at me. Emily and Kate did the same. Charlotte rubbed her eye slightly, and I could tell that her blue contacts were bothering her, but she had insisted on wearing them to "keep the humans from suspecting anything." Before I knew it, it was time to say our vows. Seth, of course, was going to go first.

"Jasmine," he sighed. "When I first heard you came to Forks, I could only think how happy I was for Alice and Jasper. But then I met you, and my whole world was turned upside down. I started wondering when was the next time I would see you, trying to decode every single movement you did, everything you said. When I saw your smile, it was like seeing an angel smile. I have never met anyone else who is as beautiful, as selfless, or as completely wonderful as you are. Jasmine, you are my angel, and I will love you unconditionally, forever."

I fought back the urge to throw my arms around him and tell him that I felt the same way. The minister looked expectantly at me and I opened my mouth to speak.

"Seth," I started. My eyes were on my feet but I soon looked up into his eyes. "I had a rough first sixteen years of my life. I never thought I would find anyone who would accept me—a mere orphaned girl who grew up in a ratty orphanage. When I first met you, I remember asking myself why I cared about you at all. You were clearly too good for me, and I haven't changed that opinion now. By some miracle, you love me as much as I love you and that's more than anyone could ever give me. You're kind, caring, and truthfully amazing. I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you, loving you."

"Now, the rings," the minister said. Jade came forward and handed me Seth's ring and Emmett handed Seth mine.

"With this ring," Seth said, taking my hand in his, "I thee wed." He slipped the ring onto my finger.

"With this ring," I said, shakily, "I thee wed." I slipped the ring into place on his finger.

"Do you, Seth Clearwater, take thee, Jasmine Isabella Cullen, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To love and to hold, through sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," Seth sighed. "Finally," I heard him whisper afterwards.

"And do you, Jasmine Isabella Cullen, take thee, Seth Clearwater, to be your lawfully wedded husband? To love and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," I vowed. My voice rang loud and clear throughout the church, despite the fact that my voice broke on the last word.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the minister announced. "Seth," he said, "you may now kiss the bride."

I threw my arms around Seth and we kissed as the church exploded in applause. I left my arms around his neck and laid my head on his chest as we turned to face the crowd—all standing, all clapping, some with tears streaming down their faces, and some who wanted to cry but obviously couldn't. All were loved ones who were genuinely happy that Seth and I had found each other. I snuck a peek back at my bridesmaids—three of which were crying with joy.

I took Seth's hand in my own and was about to start walking when I heard Claire's sweet little voice.

"One, two, three!" she exclaimed, pulling down on a thick ribbon she had in her hands. Flower petals showered over us from the ceiling and I laughed, covering my head instinctively.

"Best day of my life," I whispered, pulling a flower petal out of my hair.

"Best day of mine, too," Seth said, kissing my cheek. "Shall we, Mrs. Clearwater?"

I hooked my arm through his. "Let's go," I said.

We walked back down the aisle and out the door, a crowd of humans, werewolves, and vampires trailing behind us.

"Alice?" I asked, once she'd caught up to me. "Do I have to ride side saddle this time?"

Alice puckered her lips. "Well, if you don't want to…" Her voice trailed off.

"Great!" I squealed. Seth lifted me up onto Persephone and he climbed onto a midnight black horse.

"Race you," I laughed as I pulled on Persephone's reigns to steer her in the right direction. Seth came right behind me and our horses galloped quickly down the wide trail. The wind whipped at my face and I threw my head back and laughed as we continued further down the trail.

"I win!" I declared as we reached the bottom. Seth laughed, rode up next to me, and grabbed my hand.

"No," he teased, kissing my hand. "I do."

I smirked. "No you don't. I beat you and you know it."

"You may have beaten me," he said, kissing my hand once more. "But I still won."

"That makes no sense," I laughed.

"Of course it does," he said. "You beat me in the race, but I've won the most beautiful, selfless, amazing girl in the world as my wife."

I stared into his eyes before leaning over to kiss him. A camera flashed. I popped open one eye—Esme.

"You just love pictures, don't you, Esme?" I teased.

"Of course I do!" she said, laughing. "Oh, I got tons while you were distracted."

"Of course," I said, jumping down from Persephone. I stroked her mane lightly before Alice took her away.

"C'mon, you lovebirds," Rosalie teased. "We should be getting back to the hotel. The reception awaits!"

I smiled and held hands with Seth as I walked toward my car (which, for the record, I am _still _not driving very often). The words 'Just Married' were written on the back window. Claire and Jade helped me get my skirts into the car before closing my door. I rolled down the window and waved at my friends, my family. They all waved back.

"Congratulations!" Tanya sang happily. She jumped up and down waving, her strawberry blonde curls bouncing.

"Thank you!" I yelled right back.

I shrank back into my seat and rolled my window back up.

"I'm finally yours," I said, turning to face Seth. He smiled.

"Finally," he said. He placed a kiss on my lips and I sighed in contentment.

"You make such a beautiful bride," he said. "I'm the luckiest guy in the world."

I rested my hand on his and my mouth widened into a smile.

"And I'm the luckiest girl in the world," I said dreamily.

"And, just for the record," he said, smirking, "no one, not Asia, not Tiffany—especially not Tiffany—" he made a gagging sound and I just had to laugh "can take me away from you."

"I'm holding you to that," I laughed.

"I expected you to," he said.

We pulled into the hotel parking lot and I stepped out—extremely carefully—once the car had come to a complete stop. Many familiar cars came in after us.

We all made our way into the ballroom of the hotel. Seth and I stopped every now and then to thank a hotel guest for their congratulations. When we entered the ballroom, I noticed that it was very beautifully decorated with jasmine flowers and white silk tapestries and ribbons—Alice's doing, no doubt.

Alice waltzed up to a microphone stand and tapped it to get everyone's attention.

"Attention!" she said into it. "It's time for the bride and groom's first dance!" A loud squeal followed that and several people covered their ears.

Seth led me to the center of the dance floor and a circle formed around us. Seth rested one of his hands on the small of my back, mine was on his shoulder. Not two seconds of the song had played yet when I recognized it. Your Guardian Angel filled the speakers and Seth and I started dancing. Pretty soon, I was gliding and twirling across the dance floor with the guidance of the man I loved.

"_My true love, my whole heart, please don't throw that away_," Seth sang into my ear, soft enough for only me to hear—well, me and anyone in the room with superhuman hearing, that is.

I pressed myself closer to him and looked up into his eyes. He returned my gaze immediately with a heart warming, loving stare of his own. I didn't at all care about the camera flashes I detected out of the corner of my eye.

"I love you so much," I said. "And I will never throw that away."

"You have no clue how it feels to hear you say that," he said. He dipped me and I heard an "aw" from, undoubtedly, Emmett.

Your Guardian Angel ended and Only Hope by Mandy Moore started playing. I almost laughed—Alice undeniably put that there on purpose. She knew how much I was obsessed with _A Walk to Remember_.

I looked up again and got lost in Seth's eyes. It was only him and me, everyone else wasn't even there. It was only when Alice made another announcement over the loudspeaker that I was snapped back to reality.

"I would like to ask everyone to take their seats," she said. "It's time for the toasts."

Everyone started moving toward the tables. Seth and I, along with the Cullens, Sue, and Leah, walked toward the table in front of the ballroom. Once everyone was seated, Alice walked over and stood behind her chair, microphone in hand.

"Jasmine, I couldn't ask for a better daughter than you," she started. "I love you with my whole heart, and I couldn't be happier that you've found someone that can give you the love your father has given me. Seth, I have no doubt that you'll only ever do what's best for her, but I have to say it. Take care of my little girl. She's in your hands now." Alice's voice cracked on the last word and she sat down, soft dry sobs raking her body. I reached up to wipe tears away from my eyes. Jasper walked over to Alice and took the microphone from her.

"Well, I'm sure Alice pretty much covered all the basics," he said. I could tell he was trying to hide the way his voice was breaking. "But, I just want to say, Jasmine, Seth, let there always be love in your home. Take care of each other, and never forget the promises you've made."

Everyone in the room cheered for Alice and Jasper's strength and Jasper walked over to give me a hug.

"I love you," he whispered in my ear before walking back over to Alice. It seemed as if the toasts were done—in fact, I was pretty sure they were—but then little Claire, of all people, stood from her seat and walked over to Alice, taking the microphone from her hand. I could see that she was already crying.

"Jazzy, Seth, I am very happy for the both of you. I hope you can both live beautiful, love-filled lives together. Thanks for letting me be a part of this amazing day in your lives. I love you both."

I choked on a sob as Claire ran over and threw her arms around my neck before returning to her seat beside Emily. This seemed to encourage more toasts. Leah, Sue, Jade, Ali, and even Emmett stood from their seats to give us their best wishes. I, of course, couldn't help but cry.

"All right, it's time to cut the cake," Alice said, laughing as she swallowed the last of her sobs.

Two women came out of a door, pulling a cart with a white cloth draped over it. On top was a spectacular cake decorated with flowers. Seth and I stood from our seats and walked over to stand in front of the cake, everyone crowding around us.

I picked up a knife and Seth put his hand on top of mine gently. Cameras flashed viciously and people cheered as we sliced into the cake. Alice had already made sure that the whole shoving cake into each other's faces thing was dismissed.

"The day you get cake anywhere near that dress and that hair will be the day Rosalie can go without looking in a mirror," she'd said. I'd tried to fight that part—I mean, come on, it sounded like fun—but I couldn't beat Alice.

Once that was over, all the unmarried girls in the room gathered behind me. I closed my eyes tightly, turned around, and threw my bouquet over my head. I heard two people scream in delight.

"We got it!" Ali and Jade laughed as they held it up over their heads—both had both hands around the stems of the flowers. I laughed and clapped my hands along with everyone else.

"And now it's time for the father-daughter and the mother-son dances," Alice said, her perky voice almost coming out as a squeal. The center of the room cleared out again until it was just Sue and Seth on the left and Jasper and me on the right. Keep Holding On by Avril Lavigne filled the speakers.

"Jazz," I started as he spun me around the dance floor, "I just want to thank you so much. If you and Alice hadn't gotten me out of that ratty place, this day would've never come for me."

"Well, maybe it wouldn't have come like this, but it would've come eventually," he said, smiling.

"Jasper, you saw the girls in that place. You saw," I gulped and readied myself to say her name, "Samantha. I could've ended up like that. If it wasn't for you and Alice, I probably would have ended up like that. And I've gotten so much out of this life, Jasper, and I have you two to thank for that. Without you, I would've never met Seth. So," I blinked back tears, "thank you."

"Don't thank us, Jasmine," Jasper said. "Thank fate."

He spun me once more as the song came to an end.

"Hey, Jasmine, do I get a dance?" Emmett chuckled as he came up to me.

"Emmett, you want to dance?" I asked, laughing.

"Of course," he said. "Besides, my dancing partner is taken." He pointed over to Seth where he was dancing and—by the look on his face—trying not to laugh as he danced with Rosalie. I laughed again as we started dancing. A lot of people laughed, actually. Emmett—despite the fact that he was a vampire—was actually not a better dancer than I was. Things continued like this for about an hour—Seth and I danced with about every person in the room to songs that Alice had obviously chosen just for the occasion. She'd also somehow recorded me singing So I Thought and played that, too. I tried not to blush in embarrassment. When I was finally dancing with Seth again, Dancing by Elisa was playing and twilight was pouring in through the windows.

"So, Mrs. Clearwater," Seth started. I looked around to see all the other couples who had joined us on the dance floor. Nessie waved at me from over Jacob's shoulder and I waved back. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Jasmine Isabella Clearwater," I said. "You have no idea how much I love the sound of that."

"Do you know what I love?" he asked.

"Hm?"  
"You." He dipped me and gave me a kiss. The dreaded camera clicks and flashes struck again.

"No one has ever had a better wedding day," I said. "I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to stop smiling even if I wanted to."

"I don't think anyone can," he said.

"Oh, Jasmine, I'm so sorry I haven't been able to talk to you very much today." Kate was walking up to me, Garrett by her side.

"Oh, Kate, don't worry about it," I said. "I've had plenty to keep me busy." I reluctantly removed one of my hands from Seth's shoulder and gave her a one armed hug. She grabbed my hand in her ice cold one.

"Glad to see you've finally tied the knot." She gave my hand a playful shock. I jumped and laughed.

"Warn me next time, would you?" I teased.

"Deal," she said. "Well, I'll leave you with your new _husband_." She exaggerated the word. "Have fun and I'll see you soon."

Kate and Garrett made their way back through the crowd and into their own corner to dance.

"She sure is something," I sighed once Seth and I started dancing again.

"Aren't all of our guests?" he laughed. "I mean, c'mon, we've got your vampires, your humans."

"Don't forget the werewolves and half breeds," I joked.

"That too," he agreed.

"And I seriously hoped none of our non-knowing humans heard that," I muttered.

Seth looked around. "Nah, Jade's over there talking to Zafrina and looks like Eleazar and Carmen are keeping Ali pretty busy."

"Well, that's a relief," I said. "I don't want to have to do any explaining."

"You won't have to," he said. We moved slowly for who knows how long without speaking—relishing in the music and the loving silence between the two of us. I wasn't at all sure how much time had passed when Seth finally spoke again.

"I still can't believe that I have my own angel in my arms," he said. "And I really hope I can keep her there forever."

"Don't worry," I said. "I'm not flying anywhere."

He spun me slowly and, when I returned to him, I wove both my arms around his waist, laid my head against his chest, and he wrapped his arms around me.

"Nope, I'm staying here," I whispered.

"I have a whole life planned for us. One where I'll never let anything happen to you," he said. "Where I'll always be around when you need me. One where you'll never get in harm's way. It's perfect."

"You promise?" I asked.

"I promise," he said. "Perfect," he repeated. "Just like you."

I stretched up to kiss him and this time, when the cameras flashed, I couldn't care less. It was just Seth and me—no one else. No one else that is, until Rosalie came and tapped me on the shoulder, breaking me out of my trance.

"Rose," I squeaked in surprise.

"Hey did I scare you?" she asked. She didn't wait for a reply. "Alice needs to see you ASAP."

I stared daggers at her. She staggered back a step.

"Jeez," she said. "Don't shoot the messenger."

I reached up and gave Seth a peck on the cheek.

"Sorry," I said. "Her royal highness calls," I muttered.

Seth laughed. "Don't worry," he said. "I'm not going anywhere."

I hated to leave him, but Rosalie soon towed me away to a corner where Alice, Esme, Bella, and Nessie were waiting.

"All right," Alice said, clasping her hands together. "Jasmine, your flight leaves in three hours and it'll take you about half an hour to get there which means I have about fifteen minutes to get you out of that dress and into this one." She gestured to Bella who held up a short, dark blue dress.

"Sorry," she mouthed. "Not my idea."

"Obviously," I muttered.

Alice ushered me into the bathroom where it took her about a minute and a half to get me into the dress and fix my hair to her liking. Jade and Ali eventually stepped in as well—after a running Nessie was sent to go get them—and helped redo my makeup.

"Oh and here," I said, starting to take off the bracelets, planning to remove the necklace next. "Thank you so much for letting me borrow these. It felt really nice to have a part of my best friends coming down the aisle with me."

Both Ali and Jade stopped me from giving them back their small treasures.

"Keep them," Jade said. "You can give them back to us when you come back from your honeymoon. We want you to take a piece of us there, too."

"Yeah, and besides, that necklace looks great with your dress," Ali added.

I smiled at them as I slipped my heels back on. When I stood back up, I hugged both of my friends at once.

"I love you guys," I said. "Thanks so much for being here today."

"We love you too, Jasmine," Jade said.

"Yeah. Sisters forever," Ali laughed. I pulled back, and it didn't take long to realize that they were crying, just the same as I was.

"Well," Jade said, wiping her eyes. "I'm sure Alice is just about ready to scream for you so you can get going."

I hooked arms with both of them and we continued—sideways—out the bathroom door. The room was basically empty, but the crowd waited outside.

"There's my beautiful wife," Seth said as soon as he saw me.

"Well, you better get going," Ali said. She and Jade pulled me into another hug before releasing me to Seth. I held his hand as we pushed through the crowd of people shouting their goodbyes and good lucks. I stepped into my car—still passenger's seat—and rolled down the window so I could wave to my friends and family.

"Have fun!" Alice said.

"Have _lots _of fun!" Emmett said. Jasper elbowed him in the ribs.

I waved until I couldn't see any of them at all. When I nestled back into my seat, I took one of Seth's hands.

"I love you," I said. "And that love will keep growing forever."

He smiled endearingly at me. "We have forever," he said.

And so we drove on, the only things on our mind being each other.

**Author's Note: Haha, I love my ridiculously long chappie x33 Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! Also, the pics for this chapter are up on my site (or will be in about five minutes, anyway) for you to see. And there are MANY pics, I'm not even kidding. Anyway, press that little review button and make me happy, plz :D**


	14. Chapter 14

The morning sunlight drifted in through the window. I sat on a small couch in my bedroom, legs folded under me, reading Bram Stoker's _Dracula _for the thousandth time. Alice gave it to me a month ago when Seth and I had gotten back from our amazing honeymoon in Paris. Funny, I couldn't help but laugh at all the preposterous things that book said about vampires, but at the same time, I could never put it down.

Well, I usually couldn't put it down anyway. At that moment, I put it to the side and pulled a large photo album onto my lap. I flipped through the pictures from our wedding day and slowed down when I reached the honeymoon pictures. I smiled down at the first one—Seth and I caught off guard in front of a lit up fountain at night by a passing photographer.

_"Our first night in Paris together," I whispered, standing up from my seat at the edge of the fountain and twirling around, enjoying the fresh air. "It's so beautiful."_

_"Beautiful?" Seth said in utter disbelief. "I wouldn't use that word with you here in comparison."_

_The fountain behind us shot up water as I reached up to caress Seth's face._

_"You haven't a clue how much I love you," I said._

_"I bet I could guess." He smiled and leaned down, closing the distance between our lips. Just as he kissed me, a camera flashed._

_My first thought was, _Well, crap, Esme followed us to Paris!_ But when I turned to see who had clicked the camera, I saw a professional looking man, pulling a photo out of his camera._

_"Brilliant!" he declared, but looked startled when he saw I'd caught him._

_"Excuse me, Mademoiselle, but I'm a magazine photographer and, you see, I have to take pictures for an article…" I held up my hand and shook my head politely to stop him._

_"That's all right, Sir," I said. "We completely understand." I gestured to the photograph in his hand. "May we see the picture?"_

_"Oh, by all means, Mademoiselle," he said. He handed me the photo and I squinted to get a better look at it._

_"Oh, it certainly is nice," I said. "I'm sure that will do just fine for your article. But, I was wondering, do you mind, perhaps, making us a copy?"_

_"Why, of course, Mademoiselle. I'll have it to you first thing in the morning," he said. He fumbled around in his bag for a pen and paper where Seth wrote down the hotel we were staying at, the room number, and our names._

_"You can send it there," Seth said warmly. "Have a nice evening."_

_"Thank you, Messieur," he said. He tipped his hat toward me. "Good evening." Then, he walked away._

_"Well," I laughed, "that was interesting, to say the least."_

_Seth chuckled. "Oh, you do have a way with people, Jasmine." He put his arms around my waist. "Now, where were we?" He leaned down again and planted a warm, kind, wonderful kiss on my lips and I let myself drown in our love._

I sighed. "Such a nice evening," I whispered to myself. I was all alone in the house—the Cullens were out hunting, Nessie and Jacob were spending some time with Charlie, Seth and Leah were at Sue's place (it was the anniversary of Harry's death), and Bella, who'd hunted earlier this week, was out on an errand for me. I'd been feeling unusually nauseous the past few mornings and I couldn't stand up without feeling a bit dizzy. I closed the photo album when I heard the front door slam closed.

"I got the ginger ale for your stomach," Bella said, walking into my room and dropping a brown bag next to me.

"Thanks, Belles," I said, rubbing my stomach and pulling the contents out of the bag.

"I brought you a cup," she said, handing a glass to me. I poured the ginger ale into it and drank it slowly.

"I can't wait till that starts kicking in," I murmured.

"I have been noticing that you've been a bit pale for a few mornings now." Bella touched her hand to my forehead. "You don't feel like you have a fever."

"I bet it's all the weight I've been gaining," I suggested. "I have gained about six pounds since I got home. How crazy is that?"

"You have been eating like a pig lately," Bella teased.

"Thanks, Bella," I said, rolling my eyes. "That's so nice to hear."

"Any time." She smiled. "Looking at your pictures?" She picked up the photo album I'd just closed. I drank another gulp of ginger ale.

"Uh-huh," I said. She opened it to the page I'd just been on and scanned it quickly.

"Oh, that one's pretty," she said, pointing to the one of Seth and me in front of the Eiffel Tower. "Let me guess, another photographer?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yes! They're everywhere in that blasted city! If I didn't know any better, I'd think Esme hired them to chase me around with a camera since she couldn't."

Bella smirked and quickly tried to hide it.

"No she did not," I said. "No she did not!"

"Well…" Bella shrugged.

"I can't believe she did!" I screamed, standing up abruptly. "Whoa," I said as Bella stood up to try and steady me. "Bad idea."

"Jasmine, you should really see a doctor," Bella said. "I could drive you down at normal speed to the hospital."

"Oh, that would be a complete waste of time," I said. "Carlisle and the others will be getting home soon. I can have him take a look at me."

"If you say so," Bella sang, looking doubtful. "For now, though, I think you should sit down and try not to stand up so quickly. It's obviously not doing anything good for you."

"Ugh, deal," I muttered, sitting down slowly again.

"Well, hey, how about some lunch, huh?" Bella asked. "Maybe that discomfort is from lack of food. When was the last time you ate some decent food?"

"Um… Yesterday?"

"And what time is it?"

"All right, I see your point." I pushed myself slowly up off the couch and—with Bella's help—made it downstairs without falling over and knocking myself unconscious. Bella sat me down on the couch in front of the television and I fanned myself with my hand, trying to get rid of my dizziness.

"God, I hope I don't have the freaking flu." I rested my chin in my hands. "I hate the flu."

"How does some soup sound?" Bella asked. Her tone was motherly and it made me more at ease somehow.

"Sounds nice, Bella," I said. "Thanks for this."

"No problem," she said. "I'd do anything for my family." And with that, she scurried off into the kitchen.

I picked up the remote and started flipping through the channels, trying to find something to watch. Something in my stomach seemed to prick me from the inside, and I rubbed my stomach softly.

"Ugh, why are you doing this to me?" I asked aloud, looking down at my stomach. "What did I ever do to you?"

"Talking to yourself again?" Bella asked, laughing, as she carried a tray with a bowl of soup over to me. She set it down on the coffee table in front of me.

"What do you think?" I joked, spooning some of the soup into my mouth.

"Let's hope that makes you feel better," she said. Bella came around and sat down next to me and kept flipping through the channels.

"I really hope Carlisle gets home soon," Bella said. "You're starting to look even paler than before." She put one hand on my shoulder and pulled me back gently.

"Jasmine?" she asked cautiously. "Are you feeling all right?"  
"Not really," I muttered. Bile rose in my throat and Bella—in less than a second—got a trashcan and put it in front of me. I threw up.

"You're kidding me," I muttered. "You've got to be kidding me. I don't want to be sick! I hate being sick," I moaned. Bella rubbed soothing circles on my back.

"Maybe I should call Carlisle," she said. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind coming home earlier than the others."

"I think I'm agreeing with you this time," I said. "I'd hate to cut his trip short, but, really…"

I hadn't finished my sentence before Bella had her cell phone to her ear.

"Carlisle." She breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm really sorry, but we need you to come home. It's Jasmine, she's really sick and I haven't a clue what to do! She's been feeling so dizzy she can barely stand up, she just threw up, and she's pale as… well… she's pale as me!"

I looked at my hand and quickly compared it to Bella's. Ah, hell, she was right. Half a shade lighter and I'd be vampire pale.

"You're coming home? Oh, thank goodness. All right, I'll make sure she doesn't." Bella paused, her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped to the floor. "Jasmine might be _what_?! Oh, dear God, don't tell Jasper. Carlisle, I know what I'm talking about. Don't tell him! Don't tell anyone! And, please, oh _please _do _not _tell Rosalie! All right, Carlisle, thank you. Wait, is Edward around? No, I don't want you to tell him!" A sigh. "Yes, I know. Keep this from everyone, well, except for Esme. I know how hard… Yes, all right, Carlisle. I'll put a shield around you all as soon as you come close. See you then." She snapped her phone closed.

"I might be _what_, Bella?" I asked warily.

"Nothing," she said. "Nothing at all."

"I might be _dying_?" I asked.

"Oh, oh, God no!" she screamed. "Relax. Carlisle might be wrong. He has to see you first to determine if you are or not."

"If I'm _what_, dammit?!" I yelled.

"I can't tell you," she said.

"Bella, this concerns my health. I have a right to know."

Bella bit her lip and looked around nervously. She stayed like that for a bit, just fidgeting and trying not to meet my eyes.

"Isabella Marie Cullen," I said steadily, "I have a right to know."

"I don't want to freak you out," she whispered.

"Bella, c'mon, it's me, remember? Nothing freaks me out anymore." I smiled sheepishly.

"Jasmine," Bella started slowly. When she didn't continue, I sighed.

"Yes?" I pressed.

"Is there…?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you…?"

"Uh-huh?"

"Did you…?"

"For goodness sake, Bella, spit it out!" I sighed in exasperation.

Bella's head snapped up.

"Carlisle's here," she said. "So is Esme."

I didn't have time to ask more questions. I was distracted by something I saw, something from Bella. Out of her mind, a bolt of energy seemed to fan out. It covered me, and it covered the two familiar approaching figures in the woods. Within seconds, Carlisle and Esme stood in the room.

"Sorry it took us so long," Carlisle said. "I had to stop by the pharmacy to get it."

"Get _what_?!" I asked. I was ignored.

"Bella, did she tell you if it was even possible?" Esme asked. "We don't want to waste time."

"I couldn't get it out of my mouth in time," Bella admitted sheepishly. "I was sort of in shock."

Carlisle was unzipping a medical bag and pulling several things out, searching for something he couldn't find. I was focusing too much on trying to keep myself from passing out—I mean, come on, I'd just thrown up everything I'd eaten within the past year and then some—to really notice what was going on around me, what no one else in the Cullen family could know yet.

"Have you found it yet, Carlisle?" Esme asked.

"I must have dropped it," he grunted. "No matter, I'll just run to the store and get another one. I'll be right back. Jasmine, I need you to drink water. Bella, please, go and get her a blanket, she feels cold, even to me. Try not to stand if you feel dizzy, all right?"

I nodded weakly as Carlisle hurried out the door. Bella returned seconds later with a blanket that she draped over me.

"I don't see why everyone's freaking out," I said. "It's just the stomach flu."

"Jasmine, it might be a lot more than just stomach flu," Esme said.

When the realization hit me, it hit me hard. My eyes flew open and my jaw dropped.

"I think I finally get it," I said blankly. I stared at the wall in front of me, barely moving.

"Is it possible, Jasmine?" Bella asked. "You can tell us."

I couldn't stop my blush from coming.

"Well, she's starting to get some color in her face." Esme laughed.

"Jasmine, please, tell me. Is it possible that you're…?"

"No!" I screamed as a first response. "Or… well… um… okay, yeah, pretty much."

"So, you…?"

I nodded.

Bella squealed an Alice squeal. "So you could be?!"

"Well, I guess I could be," I admitted.

"Oh, Jasmine, that's wonderful!" Esme said. Her happy voice didn't fool me—I saw the worry in her eyes.

"Esme, what's wrong?" I dared to ask. She looked away from me.

"Esme," I said again, "what's wrong?"

"It's just…" she trailed off. "You don't know about Paul's mom, do you?"

"What?" I asked.

"Um, Jasmine," Bella said. "The reason we were making such a big deal out of this is because… well… Seth is a werewolf. Paul's mother… she—she died giving birth to him."

I shook my head. "I'm not sure I understand."

"Paul had the werewolf genes before his birth," Bella explained. "So he was growing faster than a normal baby. By her nine month mark, Paul's mother, Lena, was ridiculously huge. Paul made it out safely, but Lena didn't."

"But that only happened once!" I blurted. "Who says it could happen to me?"

"Oh, Jasmine, we don't want to frighten you," Esme said. "But, well… the rest of the mothers—aside from the abnormal stomach size—had a normal pregnancy. Their symptoms weren't as bad as Lena's were. Lena… when her body was first adjusting to the fact that she was pregnant, she was extremely dizzy for hours at a time. She threw up more than she should have and her Quileute skin was extremely pale from all the energy she was losing."

I froze. Those symptoms—_I _had those symptoms.

"Esme, don't forget Sue," Bella interceded. "Sue had those symptoms while she was carrying Leah, then later with Seth. Sue was fine."

"Yes, but Sue was—and still is—an abnormally strong woman, an abnormally strong woman that could handle abnormally strong pregnancy," Esme argued.

"Jasmine is strong," Bella stated in my defense. "How many times has she gotten attacked by one of our kind and lived without so much as a concussion? She's been stabbed, she's been almost drained, and she's dealt with situations that should've given her a heart attack — that would've given _me _a heart attack if I were still human. I'm pretty sure she can tough it out."

"Wait a second!" I called over their bickering. "We don't even know if I'm actually…"

"We'll know soon." Carlisle closed the door behind him and handed me a bag. "The directions are on the box," he said.

I took the bag from him with a shaking hand. "All right," I said.

"Can you make it upstairs without fainting?" Bella asked.

"Of course not," I said. "I'm gonna use the one down here."

I stood up and walked as quickly as my body allowed to the bathroom. My hand was still shaking as I opened the door. I set the bag on the counter, closed the door, and sank to the floor.

I wasn't sure if I could do this. Yes, I was scared—terrified, actually. But, like Bella said, I was strong. I could tough it out. Besides, if… if I was pregnant—it was such a relief to think the word to myself—then this was mine and Seth's child. The thought alone made me feel better. A slight smile spread across my face. I stood up carefully; grabbing hold of the counter should I need support. Surprisingly, I didn't feel dizzy as I dumped the bag's contents onto the counter. The pain in my stomach had lightened and the only thing left was the bile threatening to rise from my throat again. I rinsed my mouth to try and get it to go away—sadly, it didn't.

_Stop stalling_, I thought to myself. Yes, I knew I was stalling. I always stalled. My hands were still shaking as I opened the box in my hands.

_Just count to ten_, I thought, _it'll be over then. _

I counted slowly, thinking about days that were far beyond me. Days when I could possibly cradle a newborn child in my arms—_my _child—and know that I would never leave him or her behind. I imagined the pretty face of a little girl looking up at me, asking me to brush her hair, or maybe it would be the face of a little boy, running to his father with an oversized baseball mitt in his hands, asking to play. I ignored the thought of telling Alice and Jasper for now—I had enough going on to frighten me already.

I washed and dried my hands before walking over to see my response. I picked it up in my hands, and before I knew it, I was walking out the bathroom door and into the living room, where Bella, Esme, and Carlisle were waiting expectantly.

In a soft, shocked voice, I said, "I'm pregnant."

**Author's Note: Um… all I can say is that I'm really glad I can use some creative license for this. Yay for the non-human pregnancy that doesn't make my job more difficult than it already is!!! Review, por favor ;D**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Jeez, Nana, are you happy now? Gosh…**

**And for those of you who don't know, the song in this chapter is Only Hope by Mandy Moore. Look it up, it's really pretty ;D**

"I'm pregnant," I said again. "Oh, my gosh."

"Oh, Jasmine, that truly is wonderful," Bella sighed. Esme looked like she wanted to cry.

"My great granddaughter is having a baby!" Esme exclaimed. She walked over to me and gave me a squeeze. "My strong, intelligent, powerful great granddaughter that can survive anything."

I sighed and didn't bother to wipe away my tears of joy. "So you really think I can make it, Esme?"

"I really do," she said.

"Jasmine, I am very happy for you," Carlisle said sincerely. "It does my heart good to know that someone else in our family will be able to have a child to call their own in but months' time. I'm sure you'll be able to survive this." He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I don't know how much I'll be able to do to help you. The most I can do now is call Sue and ask her how she dealt with it. I might be able to think back to Bella's pregnancy and try to work from there. Research might help, too." Carlisle started to walk toward the computer in the corner of the room.

"For now, I think we should also call Sue," Bella said. "She might have some tips for Jasmine."

"Oh, no," I said. "Today is a very painful day for Sue. I'm sure I can hold up until tomorrow."

"Jasmine, I fear you might not be able to without some help," Esme said.

"Well, hey, I was going to go drop off Nessie's things at my dad's so she could sleep over," Bella said. "I could always stop by Sue's place afterwards."

"That might be a good idea," Carlisle said.

"All right, so, I'm gonna go give Nessie her things then head on down to La Push. I'll call you guys once Sue is on her way." Bella patted my back, picked up a blue duffel bag, and made her way toward the door.

"Bells," I said, "can you do me a favor and not tell Seth yet? I want to be the one to tell him."

Bella smiled warmly. "All right. I'll skip out on the details." And with that, she disappeared through the door.

"Esme," I started, "if you don't mind, I think I'm going to go upstairs."

Esme smiled. "Why, of course, dear. Do you need help?"

"No, I think I can make it," I assured her. "But, if you hear a large crash, then I probably need some help."

Esme laughed a bit. "All right, then. Be careful."

I stood up and, cradling my stomach, made my way to the stairs. I gripped the rail tightly and pulled myself up the stairs slowly. I wasn't sure if I could make it without completely passing out, but I figured I would need the practice.

"Are you sure you don't need help?" Esme called.

"I'm fine, Esme, really," I said.

"Jasmine, let us know if you start feeling fainter, all right?" Carlisle said. "We don't want you to risk…" his voice trailed off. I didn't feel like asking any questions.

"Will do, Carlisle, will do," I muttered. When I reached the top of the stairs, I relaxed my muscles and continued down the hallway. When I reached my door, I opened it quickly and slipped into my closet. There, I sank down to the floor in front of the door.

There was life inside me. And not just any life—the life of mine and Seth's child. The perfect combination of the both of us was growing larger inside me every second. I stretched my legs out in front of me and rested my head against the door. When I looked down again, my eyes immediately fell on my stomach.

"My darling little child," I whispered. "I'll protect you with my life. You'll have a family that will care for you, a father that will always love you, and a mother that will never leave you. I hope that will be enough for forever." I smiled slightly to myself and started singing softly, a song that we'd danced to at our wedding.

"_Sing to me the song of the stars_

_Of your galaxy dancing and laughing and laughing again _

_When it feels like my dreams are so far _

_Sing to me of the plans that you have for me over again_

_So I lay my head back down_

_And I lift my hands and pray_

_To be only yours_

_I pray_

_To be only yours_

_I know now you're my only hope…_" My voice trailed off and I laughed a bit, feeling completely drowned in ecstasy.

I sang song after song in hopes that my unborn child would enjoy them. I continued this until I heard the door to my bedroom open and then close gently.

"Jasmine?" Seth called. "Are you in here?"

I stood up and slipped out of my closet. "Right here," I said.

Seth immediately wrapped his arms around me. "Are you all right?" he asked. "Bella said you were sick. She told my mom and me to come down here as soon as possible."

"Is that what she said?" I laughed. "Oh, I'm fine. Better than fine, actually." I bit my lip nervously as I smiled. "Seth, sit down."

He did as I said, taking a seat at the edge of my bed. He pulled my on to his lap. I rested my head against his chest.

"You'll never guess what I just found out," I said.

"Can I try and guess?" he teased.

"I'd rather tell you," I said as my heart started racing. "Besides, it'll take you forever to figure it out."

"If you say so," he chuckled. "So, what's going on?"

"Seth," I said, looking up into his eyes with a smile on my face. "I'm pregnant."

The next thing I knew, I was twirled in the air.

"Whoa, careful," I said once my feet were on the ground. "I don't know why they call it morning sickness when it lasts all day."

"I'm gonna be a father," Seth whispered. "I can't believe it."

"Neither could I." I laughed. "But we've got a little bundle of joy coming our way." I sighed and patted my stomach lightly. Something inside me… it moved, it _kicked_.

"What the… Carlisle!" I called. Within seconds, Carlisle was in the room, Sue scurrying after him. Seth sat me down on the bed and put one arm around me.

"What is it?" Carlisle asked.

"The—the—the baby. I—it _kicked_. Is it supposed to kick this early?" I glanced at Sue, whose facial expression was a mix between frustration and utter joy.

"Not that I know," Sue said. "I didn't feel Seth or Leah move until about five months into my pregnancy. Even a single _wolf _child isn't growing fast enough to start kicking after a month."

"Or maybe," Carlisle said, "it's not a single wolf child."

Sue looked surprised. I'm sure I did, too. Seth's jaw dropped.

"What are you saying, Carlisle?" I asked.

"I'm saying," he said, "that it might be more than one child in there. You may be giving birth to twins, Jasmine."

My eyes widened to the point where they were probably the size of baseballs.

"Twins," I whispered. I might have fallen over if Seth hadn't been holding me tight. "Unbelievable."

Bella burst into the room frantically. "They're close!" she screamed. "They're back! The shield is around us, so we don't have to worry about Edward. Unless, well, Jasmine?" She turned to me. "Do you want to tell Alice and Jasper?"

"Can I put it off for a little while?" I asked.

"They'll figure it out eventually," Bella muttered.

"You're not helping, Bells," I said.

"Right. Anyway, I've gotten rid of most of the evidence, like the puke and the test and such. Alice obviously can't see you anymore—that wolf child is a part of you so I guess that's a plus for now—and I'm sure she'll just think it's because you're always with Seth. Try not to stand too quickly or make any sudden movements that would give you away until you're ready."

"Bella," I said. "Actually, we're thinking right now that it might not be just a child."

Bella cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"We're thinking I might be having twins," I said.

"Oh my gosh," she whispered. "Has that ever happened before?"

Sue shook her head. "Not that I know. She has to be extremely careful. Having one wolf child inside you takes a lot out of you, especially in an abnormal pregnancy. Having two, though…" She shook her head again.

"I can do this," I said confidently. "I will not let my own child bring me harm."

"You still look pale," Bella said. "We need to get some color into your face before they get here." She smirked and whispered something too quickly for me to hear. Seth chuckled and turned my face toward him, planting a kiss on my lips. Heat immediately flooded my face. Bella snickered.

"Much better," she declared.

I patted my stomach one more time before standing, and—with help from Seth—making my way downstairs and on to the couch just seconds before Alice and the others walked in.

"Hi everyone," Alice said. She gave us each a peck on the cheek. Esme came in from the kitchen, and I could practically see Bella's shield moving with her as she walked. Alice seemed to be able to see it, too. She threw a questioning look at Bella who shrugged. My stomach turned.

"I'm gonna go get some water," I said, trying not to make it obvious that I was about to throw up.

"I'll go with you," Seth said, following me. I walked quickly to the kitchen and heaved dryly into the sink. I coughed.

"Ugh, I knew there was no way there was anything else left to throw up in there," I muttered, patting my stomach. Seth rubbed my back.

"Breathe," he said. "You'll be fine."

"I hope so," I said. "I think I'll take that water."

Seth walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water for me. I chugged it down as quickly as I could manage.

"Thanks," I said, wiping my mouth. My stomach growled. "Someone's hungry." I made sure not to mention that it was the baby—or babies—for the sake of the people with super hearing in the next room that didn't know.

"Do we have eggs?" I asked quietly—mostly to myself—as I yanked the door of the fridge open again. "Yes we do," I said, pulling two out.

I cracked them into a heated pan, trying hard to concentrate more on not burning myself. Occasionally, my eyes would drift to my stomach and I would smile. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Seth doing the same.

"Crap!" Bella screamed from the living room. I threw a frantic look at Seth as I hurried into the living room. Emmett was on the floor, rolling with laughter. Edward looked like he wasn't too far from doing the same.

"What's your country now, Love?" Edward asked through his laughter.

"What's going on?" I asked warily.

Bella slumped down on the couch. "Switzerland has declared war on America," she muttered.

"And this is funny, why?" I asked, eyeing Emmett and Edward.

"Inside joke," Edward said, smiling crookedly.

"If you guys say so," I said.

"Jasmine, are you okay?" Alice asked. "I heard the heaving."

I smiled sheepishly and tried not to make it obvious that I was hiding something. "It's just the stomach flu," I assured her.

She pursed her lips and nodded, but she didn't look convinced.

"Okay," she said. "Carlisle, did you have a look at her?"

"Oh, yes, Alice," he said. "I'm sure she'll be perfectly fine. As long as she drinks a lot of water and eats normally, she'll be better in a few days."

Jasper put one arm around Alice. "She'll be fine," he whispered in her ear. I turned around and walked back to the kitchen where I flipped my eggs onto a plate, leaned against the counter, and started eating.

"I hope that does some good," I muttered. Seth came over and gently wound his arms around my waist, pressing his lips to the top of my head.

"You'll be all right," he whispered. His tone silently added _and so will the babies_.

When I finished eating, I grabbed another bottle of water before exiting the kitchen and entering the living room once again. Bella was still pouting over Switzerland declaring war. Seth and I sat on the love seat, his arm around me. When the doorbell rang, Rosalie stood from her seat to go and answer it.

"Ew," she said when she opened the door. "The dogs are here."

Jacob and Leah pushed their way past Rose.

"Thanks so much for the great introduction, Bloodsucker," Leah scoffed.

"My pleasure," Rosalie said back with false warmth.

I couldn't help but smile at their bickering. I stared absently at the television for a while until I felt another kick inside me.

Alice's head snapped up. "What was that?" she asked.

I froze.

"What was what, Alice?" Bella asked innocently.

"There was a faint thump," Alice said.

"I didn't hear anything, Alice," Carlisle said. I would have to thank him later.

"Hm," Alice said. "Maybe it was just me."

I tried to stifle my sigh of relief. All right, yeah, I would have to tell them eventually, but couldn't I put it off for just a little while?

Another kick.

"There it is again," Alice said.

Jasper's head whipped to the side. "I heard it, too."

"So did I," Edward whispered.

"What is that?" Rosalie asked.

"Not sure, Babe," Emmett said to her.

Crap.

"You all must be imagining things," Esme said, laughing. "I didn't hear a thing."

"Neither did I," Sue volunteered.

"Mom, you're human," Leah said. "Of course you didn't hear anything. Seriously, though, what is that?"

_Please, please, oh, please don't kick again!_ I prayed silently. Sadly, a series of small kicks followed.

Alice stood up and started walking toward the sound.

"I know what I'm hearing," she said. She continued walking and I hoped that her hearing would lead her somewhere else. It didn't.

Alice stood in front of me, her eyes widened in shock as she bent down to put her ear next to my stomach. Another kick.

"Jasmine," Alice started cautiously, "why is that noise coming from inside your stomach?"

I felt the blood rush out of my face as all heads in the room snapped to face me—some faces held surprise, others held an "I'm sorry, we tried" expression.

"Um…" I wasn't sure what to say. I decided that the truth would set me free. "I'm pregnant."

Jasper stood up slowly and walked over to stand over me. His face was twisted into a mask of disbelief.

"You're what?" he asked calmly.

"I'm… pregnant," I said.

There wasn't a single sound in the room. The first person to show any kind of reaction was Alice—of course—who started clapping and bouncing. She took Jasper's hands in her own.

"Jazz!" she squealed. "I'm going to be a grandma!"

"I'm going to be a freaking aunt," Leah said in disbelief.

Emmett doubled over in laughter.

"What did I tell you?!" he screamed, laughing. "What. Did. I. Tell. You."

"That's wonderful, Jasmine," Jasper said sincerely. His eyes and voice were warm. "We're all really happy for you."

My eyes filled with tears as I stood up and hugged him.

"Thanks, Dad," I said. I lifted one arm off of his shoulder and put it around Alice who was still bouncing and squealing loud enough to deafen someone in Europe.

Emmett came around and widened his eyes repeatedly. He patted Seth on the back.

"Whoa, man," he said, "I didn't think you had it in you."

"Jeez, Emmett, show some respect, would you?" Edward joked.

Everyone was crowding around me and I started feeling a bit faint. A tornado exploded in my head and a hurricane started in my stomach. I started hyperventilating.

"Carlisle," I whispered, for my voice couldn't go louder. I could've sworn I felt my eyes roll into the back of my head as I fell back, back, back, until everything went black.


	16. Chapter 16

It was a loud crash that woke me up after who knows how many hours I was out.

It shook the couch I was laying on, the floor beneath me, and the warm, comforting hand caressing my cheek. I didn't know what it was, but something that laid in the back of my head told me it may be best not to ask.

"Not again," Seth's voice murmured. "She needs to get over herself."

My eyelashes fluttered open as I tried to ignore the pounding in my head. The room seemed to spin around me, though I didn't feel exactly dizzy. When the world stopped moving, I was able to see Seth's smiling face.

"You're up," he said. "Finally. I was almost afraid I'd lose you."

"I promised I'd never leave you, now didn't I?" I smiled and sat myself upright. One look at my stomach and I could've sworn I could see a noticeable difference in its size.

"Do I look bigger to you?" I asked Seth without really thinking about it.

"You look perfect," he said. "Perfectly perfect."

I made a face. "Seth, c'mon," I said. "I'm not asking you if I'm fat or anything. I'm just wondering if the look of the pregnancy has kicked in yet. I think it has, but I feel so drugged I can't even tell." I laughed and he joined in.

"That's probably the morphine," he said. "You had a pretty nasty fall there. It could've been a lot worse if Carlisle hadn't fixed you up quickly. Sorry on behalf of everyone about that, by the way. We sort of forgot about your… er… _fragile_ state. And, if it makes youfeel better, yes, the baby belly is kicking in. Alice saw it, too." He chuckled.

I yawned and patted my stomach. "Little twins are already starting to stretch me out," I muttered playfully. "Speaking of Alice, where is she?"

"Right here!" Alice came bouncing into the living room, a perfectly exuberant smile on her face, and the strong smell of garlic and fish that clung to her clothes and engulfed me was enough to make me ignore another ground-shaking crash. I coughed.

"Sorry," Alice said, taking two steps back. "Leah wanted fish. Smells pretty bad, doesn't it?"

I nodded, trying to wave the scent away.

"I bet her breath smells worse," Seth chuckled.

"I _heard _that!" Leah called from the dining room. The three of us laughed.

"Where's everyone else?" I asked.

"Bella, Jacob, and Edward are with Nessie at Charlie's place, Carlisle and Esme went to go finish up their hunt, Jasper and Leah are in the kitchen, and Emmett's upstairs," Seth answered, another loud crash almost preventing me from hearing him.

"And Rosalie?" I asked. Another crash.

"She's…," Alice hesitated. "Not doing so well." A loud snarl accompanied by yet another crash came from upstairs.

"Is that her?" I asked alarmed. Seth and Alice nodded soberly.

"Well, _why_?" I was absolutely confused. "Why is she this upset?"

"You're pregnant," Alice said.

"Yes," I said. "And you're a vampire. What does that have to do with anything?" My words came out harsher than I'd intended them to. Damn hormones…

Alice didn't seem to mind my bitterness as her face remained in its sober mask.

"Rosalie… can't be pregnant," she said.

That one struck me like a ton of bricks. I hadn't even thought… Rosalie had told me all her stories, each and every one. She'd shared her love for children with me and her wish to one day have one to call her own. She'd confided in me the bitterness she'd felt toward Bella when she saw she was getting everything she'd ever wanted, and how she'd give everything up to be able to have kids.

"Oh no," I muttered, putting my head in my hands. Tears soaked my palms as Seth and Alice rubbed comforting circles on my back.

"I need to go talk to her," I decided, standing up and drying my tears. Seth put his two hands on my shoulders and pulled me back down.

"That's one thing you're not doing," he said sternly. "Rosalie loves you, and she knows that, but until she remembers that she doesn't really hate you for this, she's going to be a lot more than just hostile."

"I don't care!" I screamed. "She's my aunt! I don't want her angry at me or even _thinking _that she hates me. I have to talk to her."

"She could kill you," Seth said. "You shouldn't go up there."

"I agree," Alice said decidedly.

I shrugged out of his arms—something that really didn't feel right to me; his embrace was always the most comforting things—and stood up, smoothing my blouse.

"I'm going," I said. I walked as quickly as I could to the stairs and tried to ignore the terrified and shocked stares of Alice and Seth. They were probably going to follow me but I didn't care. I wanted to talk to Rosalie, and damn it, I was going to.

"IT'S NOT FAIR!" Those were the first words I heard when I stepped upstairs. Rosalie's voice was pained and too angry for words. I hesitated for a moment, but no more than a moment. I kept walking with one hand against the wall in order to steady myself should something else shake the floor.

Once outside the door of Rosalie and Emmett's room, an earsplitting growl reached me from the inside.

"Rose, babe, come on, calm down," Emmett reasoned with her. The sound of a loud _snap_ rung in my ears.

"HOW DARE YOU TELL ME TO CALM DOWN?!" Rosalie screamed. I bit down on my lip and tried to swallow my fright as I knocked timidly on the door.

"Jasmine _move_!" Emmett warned, frightened.

I stepped out of the way of the door soon enough so that I wouldn't be crushed by it as it flew off its hinges and crashed against the wall. Losing my balance, I fell to the floor. It didn't take more than a second for me to stand again. One peek inside the room and I saw that Emmett was struggling to hold back a very angry Rosalie. Her cold, angry, coal-black eyes locked on mine as she growled.

"LET ME AT HER!" she shrieked as she trashed against Emmett. She hit his face a few times and gnawed at his arm. Nothing seemed to shake him.

"JUST ONE FAIR FIGHT!" she screamed. "ONE FAIR FIGHT!"  
"Even if I was to let you," Emmett grunted, "which I won't, it wouldn't be a fair fight."

"DOES IT MATTER?!" Rosalie questioned, her voice almost so loud that my human ears couldn't hear it. "IT'S NOT FAIR THAT SHE CAN HAVE WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED, EITHER!"  
I stepped cautiously into the room and Emmett immediately turned Rose away from me.

"Get out of here, Jasmine," he said, "if you value your life. I don't know how much longer I can hold her back."

I took a few more steps in. "No," I said. "Uncle Emmett, I know what I'm doing."

He couldn't help but crack a smile at his nickname. I knew that one would soften him up.

"I'm not letting her go," he said over Rose's screams. "But you can talk. I'm not guaranteeing she'll listen, though."

I sighed and moved to sit on the bed, which I couldn't do. The bed was snapped in half and was hanging out the broken window. Everything was turned inside out, upside down. The carpet was torn and the walls had obviously been scratched at. I settled for standing on the only surface not covered in shards of destroyed furniture.

"Rose, please, listen to me," I started pleadingly. Rose stopped struggling against Emmett but he didn't let go of her. Her eyes, I could swear, turned darker than they were before. She crossed her arms.

"Why should I?" Her voice was lower, colder. It was full of hatred, anger, betrayal.

Maybe she was still mad, but at least she wasn't trying to kill me anymore… or maybe she was waiting for Emmett to show a sign of weakness so she could spring. I didn't let myself dwell on that thought too much.

"Rose, please, you're my aunt," I said. "I don't want you to hate me."

She growled and snapped her long, strong white teeth at me. Emmett pulled her back.

"Give me one good reason why I _shouldn't_ hate you!" she snapped. "One good reason before I snap your neck in two and drink your blood! Why should _you _get to have what I've always wanted, huh?! Why?!"

"Rosalie, that's not my fault," I said.

"YES IT IS!" she screamed. "IT _IS _YOUR FAULT! YOU IRRESPONSIBLE, KNOCKED-UP, LITTLE SLUT!"

Not even Emmett's strength was enough to hold her back then. She leaped at me and pinned me to the glass covered ground. She growled at me, her hands holding my trashing arms to the floor, showing all her teeth. She tore my sleeve off and scratched my arm with her nails, leaving five open wounds. Her eyes were crazed as she bent her head for a taste.

"There goes my clean record." She laughed bitterly and pressed her lips to my arm for more.

I screamed.

Before I knew it, Rosalie was being pulled away from me. She fought against the hands pulling her away, her eyes on my dripping blood.

"Get Rosalie out of here," Carlisle's voice demanded. I could now see Emmett and Jasper pulling her away with Leah in her wolf providing backup. I was screaming in the pain that she gashes on my arms were causing me. My dizziness was much more than morning sickness. I was lying in a pool of my own blood that was expanding as the milliseconds ticked by. I wasn't sure how much blood I'd lost, but I knew my body couldn't take losing anymore.

"Carlisle," I called weakly. He came rushing over to me, medical bag in hand. Alice and Seth were right behind him. Seth grabbed my hand—the one that was _not_ connected to my injured arm—and I tried to hush my screams for his sake, but it was so hard. My arm was stinging like crazy and I almost felt lighter because of all the blood I lost. I looked up into Seth's eyes and saw the worry, the horror, the love; into Alice's eyes and saw the same, but with suppressed hunger; and into Carlisle's eyes that were a mix between concern, utter concentration, and disappointment.

"I can't believe her," he said under his breath as he worked on my arm. I turned my head away and pressed my lips together tightly, trying to hold back tears and screams. While my screams stayed quiet, nothing could stop my tears. They streamed down my cheeks as my clothes started feeling crusty from the drying blood.

"How could she call her that?" Alice asked, half to herself. "That unbelievable, selfish, envious—"

"Alice, stop," I muttered through my pain. "She's your sister, she's my aunt. I don't like you talking bad about her."

"Mary Alicia Brandon," she said sternly and angrily. Ah, crap; she had never used my _real _name before. "Have you been in an extremely deep coma this entire time? Did you not just see—_feel—_what just happened to you, because of _her_?!"

I took one deep breath, choked on a sob, and tried to speak.

"I don't care," I said firmly. "She's family and I refuse to call her anything other than what she deserves."

"She deserves to be called so much more than that," Alice argued.

"I don't care what you think she deserves to be called," I said weakly. "She's my aunt."

"Alice, you shouldn't argue with her," Carlisle warned her before she could open her mouth. "Her current state is fragile enough. She doesn't need something else to take even more out of her."

I turned my head and shot him a silent thanks. He smiled, but didn't look up from his work for more than a second. One look at Alice, and anyone could tell she was extremely angry. I turned my head from her and contented myself with Seth's more understanding eyes.

"And she's all done," Carlisle announced. "She didn't need stitches; the wounds weren't that deep. I've just bandaged her. Alice? If you can handle it, I think you should go clean her up. Or should I call Bella and ask her to come home?"

Alice stared grimly at Carlisle. "I'm not going to attack her," she said.

"That's not what I meant," he muttered in response. "Don't be too angry with her."

"Will do," Alice said, and with that, she picked me up and carried me out of the room.

_**Carlisle's POV**_

I trusted Alice to not lose her temper with Jasmine, but taking precautions wouldn't hurt.

"Seth, would you mind making sure Alice doesn't abuse Jasmine with her words? Alice is short tempered, so she mayn't keep her cool very long," I requested.

"No problem," he answered, standing and walking out the door.

"Carlisle?" Edward's familiar voice made my head snap up. I hadn't realized he was even in the house. "Where's Rosalie?"

_She's in the woods, Edward_, I answered silently. _They'd had to drag her away. She… lost it._

"I can see that," he muttered. "Do you want me to clean up around here?"

_That would be a large help, son. I'm going to go find her_. I rose from the floor and slipped off my blood stained coat. I'd be sure to drop it in the washing machine later.

"Good luck with that," Edward muttered. I didn't hesitate before I started to run. I'd made it to the center of the woods in less than a minute and it didn't take me much longer to trace Rosalie's scent a few yards further. Her eyes were like liquidized rubies; red and crazed, a color I hadn't seen on her since she'd first been changed. Her clean record was tarnished, and by the blood of her own family, nonetheless. I'd never been disappointed in one of my children, but, starting at that moment, I would never be able to say that again.

I was about to voice my thoughts to her so she'd know that what she'd done was by no means acceptable. I didn't have a chance to open my mouth before Rosalie's body landed in my arms—limp and colder than usual, shaking with sobs.

"It's not fair," she sobbed into my shoulder. "She's gotten what I've always wanted, and she's ruined me." She looked up at me through glassy eyes. "These eyes are her fault."

"Rosalie Lillian Hale." I said her name firmly, pulling her away from me and forcing her to look me in the eye. "How can you possibly blame Jasmine for this? Rosalie, she is a part of your family! You could have killed her, do you realize that? I really am sorry, as I have told you time and time again, that I put this so-called curse among you, but if you take a moment to process what it was that had been happening to you, then would you have been able to have children anyway if I hadn't have found you?"

Her red eyes turned to slits as she took in my words. She tore herself from me and went to try and find comfort in Emmett, who turned his head, not being able to even look at her.

"I love you," he said. "But I don't know what to say to you right now."

She growled fiercely and, with a flip of her golden hair, she scoffed and turned into an unfeeling, almost wax-like version of the daughter I loved.

"Fine," she said, her voice breaking. She couldn't hold up the façade for much longer.

"I'm leaving," she continued. She looked expectantly at Emmett who could only sigh and take her hand. He loved her too much to let her leave without him.

"I won't let her stay away forever," he said as they passed me. "We'll be back." He gave me a one armed hug and I patted his back.

"Be sure to do that," I whispered.

Rosalie, however, wasn't able to walk by Esme without showing some kind of emotion. Both she and Emmett gave her a warm hug before starting to run. Esme, my love, walked over and put her two arms around me and her head on my shoulder. I stroked her cheek, wishing I could be able to wipe away one of the tears I knew she needed to shed.

"She'll be back," Jasper said to me in comfort. "She always comes back. Remember the last time she laughed?"

I smiled sadly at the memory. "Oh, yes, I remember." She'd been so upset when she found out about Bella's knowing, she stormed out—Emmett following—vowing to never return. She was back mere months later.

"I suppose you're right," Esme sighed. We took our time walking back to the house. We really weren't in much of a hurry. Jasmine was fine, as far as we knew—and if she wasn't, we'd surely have heard from Alice or Seth by now—Rosalie wasn't leaving us permanently, we hoped, and there was nothing after us at the moment. Another month and an ultrasound would be necessary to find out how Jasmine's baby, or babies, by the looks of it, were doing, and I'm sure we could handle her food cravings from here till her nine month mark was up. She had a family that loved and supported her, and that would surely be enough… we hoped.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Ello there, all (: Sorry if I'm getting slow in updating—life is trying to kill me. I'm not abandoning my fanfic anytime soon, though! And, since I'm sure none of you wanna hear bout my life, on with the chappie!**

It had been exactly one month since the day I found out I was pregnant. Sue had been right—it did take a lot out of you. I found myself unable to stand straight and walk without help as well as gobbling down food faster than Leah, and that was just scary. My mood swings were getting on my last nerve and I wasn't sure how much longer I could deal with the stupid all-day morning sickness.

But, as I walked out of the hospital after getting my first ultrasound, Seth's fingers laced in mine and a picture in my hand, I forgot all about the troubles I'd been enduring. When we sat in the car, I held the picture out at arm's length and sighed contentedly. Carlisle had been right—we were having twins.

It turned out, I was about three months pregnant now, and I was definitely showing. I couldn't see my feet if I looked down—but my feet were small, so that probably had something to do with it—and the baby boy and girl growing inside me were pretty heavy weight to carry around.

Yes, my twins would be a boy and a girl. The nurse wondered openly about why the babies were growing so fast as I smiled in false confusion. I smiled warmly at the thought, rubbing my stomach through the fuzzy material of my beige sweater. Alice had taken me shopping about a week after the… incident with Rosalie and filled half my closet with maternity clothes.

Emmett and Rose were still staying with Tanya's family in Denali. Emmett called often, promising their return home and teasing Seth and me when he got the chance. Rose was still angry, but she did make an effort to talk to me once. She'd asked how I was doing, which I thought was sweet, and after I responded, she'd claimed to have to go help Kate with her hair. Those were the only words we'd exchanged in months.

My phone rang, Alice's custom ringtone playing loudly. I dug it out of my pocket and pressed the green talk button.

"How did it go?" she asked, not bothering with formal introduction.

"It went well," I said, being vague on purpose.

"What do you know?" she pressed.

"Well, we're having twins." I gave Seth's hand a squeeze as I said this. Alice squealed a deafening squeal into my ear. I held the phone away from my head.

"Did you hear that, everyone?" I imagined her surrounded by my family, all waiting eager to know what I'd found out. "I'm going to be the grandma of two little babies! Do you know if they're girls or boys?"

"Both," I sighed happily. "I'm going to give birth to a precious baby girl and boy."

I was smart enough to hold my phone far away from me this time. Even then, I could still clearly hear Alice and her shriek of happiness.

"When's your due date?" she asked impatiently.

"April fourteenth," I answered.

"Does that give us enough time?" she asked, evidently not to me.

"Plenty," I heard Esme say. I hadn't a clue what they were talking about, but I decided it might be best not to ask. I'd put my foot down on the baby shower, knowing it would go overboard, so I couldn't even imagine what Alice was planning.

"Have you called Jade and Ali yet?" she questioned.

"I just got out of the hospital," I laughed. "You called before I could dial their numbers."

"Better get on it, then," Alice said. "See you at home."

I pressed the end button and started dialing Jade's cell. She hadn't gotten a phone put in the new apartment she'd and Ali had acquired. Jade answered on the first ring.

"Hey," two overly perky voices greeted me.

"You two sound just like Alice," I laughed before they plunged into the same interrogation I'd been through less than a minute before. They, however, decided to ask one question Alice hadn't.

"So have you guys talked about names yet?" Jade asked.

"We haven't really discussed that yet," I answered truthfully.

Ali made a disappointed sound. "Do you have anything in mind?"

"Maybe I do," I said. "Maybe I don't."

"Aw, Jasmine, come on, don't be like that!" Jade whined.

"Sorry, girls," I giggled. "Top secret."

There was a beeping sound in my ear.

"Oops, Mom's calling," Jade muttered. "Gotta go. This isn't over!"  
"Of course it's not," I laughed. "Bye." I shut my phone. Seth chuckled next to me.

"_Do _you have a name in mind?" he asked, raising one eyebrow.

I bit my lip as I smiled sheepishly. "Only for the girl."

He smiled. "And that is?" he pressed.

I told him the name I envisioned our little daughter having. He smiled.

"Why does that sound familiar?" he joked. "You realize that's originally a Native American name, right?"

"It is?" I asked. "What's it mean?"

"I love you," he said. I pursed my lips.

"I love you, too," I said, "but you didn't tell me—"

I was cut off by his laughter. "No, no; the _name_. It means 'I love you.'"

"Ohh," I said, stretching out the word. "Duh…"

Seth chuckled. "Do you have something in mind for the boy?"

"Nope," I said. "You?"

"None," he muttered. "I suppose it'll come to us, right? We have six months anyways." He winked at me. I blushed involuntarily.

We pulled up to the Cullen house and I immediately unbuckled my seatbelt and—with Seth's help—got out of the car.

I was searching my bag for my keys when the front door flew open and Alice, smiling much too wide, pulled me inside.

"Careful," I said, wobbling and gripping Seth's forearm to stay standing. "Dizziness hasn't worn off yet."

She giggled and grabbed my purse from me.

"Um, do you mind?" I laughed as she rummaged through it. Her face lit up when she found the ultrasound picture. She skipped over to Jasper and held it in front of her.

"Jazz," she sighed, "those are our grandkids!"

Esme, Leah, Carlisle, Bella, Edward, Sue, and Nessie all gathered around to see, sighing in admiration.

"They look very healthy," Carlisle said.

"Jasmine, you really seem to be withstanding the pregnancy well," Sue noted. "I'm surprised you're not in worse condition."

"Thank… you?" It came out as a question. I wasn't sure if I should be offended or not.

"You should eat," Esme suggested, ushering me into the kitchen. "I made you some soup. Hope you like it."

I sat down at the dining table, Seth in the seat next to me. Esme placed a bowl of steaming soup in front of me. I quickly picked up a spoon and—ignoring the burning sensation on my tongue—swallowed spoonful after spoonful. Esme smiled at me.

"Seth would you like some as well?" she asked him.

"I can get it," he assured her, standing. Esme was quicker and had a bowl ready before he got to his feet.

"No need." She smiled, placing the bowl on the table.

"Thanks," he said, sitting down again. Esme took the seat across from him and turned to me.

"Jasmine, Seth; Alice, Bella, and I were wondering if you'd let us do your babies' rooms," she said, hope glittering in her golden eyes.

I swallowed the soup I'd just spooned into my mouth and turned to Seth. He smiled in encouragement.

"We'd love that, Esme," I answered. As if on cue, Alice and Bella both came dancing into the room. They sat themselves in chairs at the table.

"Okay, we were thinking, since we have those two storage rooms at the end of the hall upstairs, we could empty those out and turn them into rooms for the babies," Alice stated perkily.

"Would you want to come with us when we shop for the furniture and everything?" Bella asked. Obviously, she was more concerned of me having a say in everything.

"I hand over everything to the three of you," I said. "Just, one small thing; can we not go with the standard pink and blue? It annoys the crap out of me."

Esme laughed. "Sure, honey, we can do that," she said. "Do you have any colors in mind?"

I turned to Seth. "Does purple sound good for our little girl's room?" I asked.

"I think it sounds nice," he assured me.

"All right, so, purple for the girl's room," Alice noted. "And for the boy?"

"How's brown?" Seth inquired.

"Warm and friendly. Brown it is." I nodded.

"Purple and brown are pretty colors," Bella giggled. "We'll get right on it."

"We'll shop for the girl's room first," Alice instructed. "Once that's done, we can shop for the boy's so we don't have too much stuff lying around."

"We'll send you pictures of the different shades of purple for the walls," Bella promised.

"I told you, I'm leaving this in your capable hands," I said. "You all just choose what you like."

"You sure?" Bella asked.

"I'm sure," I confirmed as I set both mine and Seth's plated in the sink. I wiped my hands on a towel before following everyone into the living room. Alice was flinging her purse over her shoulder.

"Jazz, Edward? Can you both do me a favor?" she asked them.

"We can do that," Edward said, answering her unsaid question. "She wants us to take all those boxes out of the upstairs rooms and take them down to the basement."

Jasper nodded.

"We'll get right on it," he said. With that, they flew up the stairs, returning seconds later with five boxes piled on their shoulders.

"Be done by the time we're back," Alice called behind her shoulder before shutting the door. Outside, I could hear her Porsche starting up.

"I really hope she won't go overboard with this," I muttered as I wedged myself in between Sue and Leah. Seth sat on the other side of his sister.

"Knowing Alice, she will." Sue laughed.

"You have some guts putting something like that in her hands," Leah said. "Overly perky bloodsucker."

"Leah!" Sue scolded. "You do realize that Alice is your mother-in-law, right?"

Leah rolled her eyes. "Don't remind me."

"When do you think Alice will be back?" I asked Seth. "There's something I seriously need to talk to her about."

"I don't know," he said. "It's Alice. She might be gone all day. Why, what do you want to talk to her about?"

I turned my head and stretched up to kiss his lips softly. "Nothing you need to worry about," I said, smiling.

"Jasmine," he said in a warning tone. I laughed.

"You worry too much," I chastised half-heartedly. I was just returning my attention to the television—Leah and Sue were watching some designer reality show—when the door opened again. Alice stepped in and locked eyes with me.

"Someone needs me?" she teased.

"I thought you couldn't see my future," I pouted.

"I said I can't see your future _well_," she corrected. "So whatcha need?"

"Upstairs," I hinted. Alice grabbed my hand and I pulled myself up off the couch. We climbed the stairs, said our hellos to Edward and Jasper who were still working on taking boxes downstairs, and entered her room. She shut the door behind her and took a seat next to me on her bed.

"What's up?" she asked.

I looked up. "The ceiling."

She grimaced. "Not funny. Can we please make this quick? I left Esme and Bella torn between three different shades of purple and I just have to be there to help decide!"

I laughed at her oh-my-gosh-this-is-such-a-crisis attitude. "I'll make it quick," I promised. She sat silently, her eyes attentive.

"Alice, I don't want to be a vampire," I said. Her eyes widened.

"I didn't see _that _one coming," she muttered. "I thought you had your heart set on this."

"I used to," I said. "But then…" I put my hand to my stomach. I could almost hear something click in Alice's head.

"I want my kids to be able to call me 'Mom' in public without heads turning and questions rising," I sighed. "I don't want them to be sixteen with a mother who's in her twenties." I looked up and saw the hurt in her eyes. Immediately, I realized what I'd said.

"No, no, no!" I exclaimed. "Alice, no! I wasn't talking about that! No, believe me; I didn't have a problem with calling you my mother when you didn't look much older than me. But think about it, Alice, if you were in my situation, still human with a possibility to continue being human, then wouldn't you have wanted this for your child, too?"

She sighed. "I know, you're right," she admitted. "I'm not upset about the fact that I can't take your life. I'm just… sad that this means I'm going to lose you one day. One day I'm going to have to go to your funeral. This is the way it should be, I know, but I don't know if I'll be able to handle seeing you lying cold, still, and lifeless in a coffin when I could've prevented it."

I put my hand on hers. "Alice, I'm not asking you to just forget my life and let some disease take my life," I said. "If my kids still need me, then if it is absolutely, positively necessary, I want to be changed. Don't change me if I'm old and withered, though. I really wouldn't like to be an eighty year old vampire." I smiled jokingly.

"So, you don't want to be changed unless you _have _to be changed?" she clarified.

I nodded. "Now, I think I've taken enough of your time," I decided. "You should be getting back to Esme and Bella. They're probably done with the choosing of the color by now."

Alice laughed her bell-like laugh and shook her head. "No, they're down to two different ones now." She helped me stand up and led me out the door. "But, yeah, I should go. Thanks for talking to me. At least now you don't need to talk to Jasper." She forcefully knocked on the wall that separated the hallway from the room Jazz and Edward had been working in. I heard someone stumble backward. "He's been listening."

Jasper's head popped out of the door. He was rubbing his ear.

"Jeez, Alice, that one hurt my extremely sensitive hearing," he laughed.

Alice smirked and put her hands on her hips. "I intended that to happen." She bound forward and pecked his cheek.

"I'm leaving again," she announced before bouncing down the stairs and out the door.

"I like the decision you made," Jasper said in my ear. "I'll make sure she keeps her promise." He patted my shoulder before returning to his work.

I smiled and made my way slowly and carefully down the stairs. I'd gotten over my human Bella-like clumsiness a really long time ago, but since I couldn't see my feet anymore, I had returned to tripping over cordless phones, as Leah liked to call it. I walked a bit sideways down the stairs, trying to keep both my hands on the railing and my eyes on the very tips of my feet.

"Did you hear?" I asked Seth when I sat down next to him. He lifted me and nestled me onto his lap.

"Of course I did," he said. "I think it's a good idea."

"So do I," Leah volunteered. "I like the idea of my sister-in-law not reeking of leech more than usual."

I threw a pillow at Leah and it actually hit her. She put it behind her.

"You know you've gotten used to the scent," I said.

Leah grimaced. "Maybe I have, maybe I haven't. You don't know me."

I laughed. Seth and Sue joined in. We continued watching that same reality show—_Project Runway_, it was apparently called—when my phone rang. I coaxed it out of my jean pocket and put it to my ear.

"Hello?" I said into it.

"Hey, Jasmine, it's Bella," the voice on the other end said. I heard a squeal in the background and a scuffling sound.

"Jasmine!" Alice squealed into my ear. "We found the perfect shade of purple for the room!"

"That's great," I said. "You, know, Alice, you don't have to call me whenever you decide on something."

"I know," she said. "But I will!" She hung up and I was left with the steady beeping of the phone in my ear.

"She is _so _Alice," I muttered. I put my phone on vibrate and stuffed it in between two cushions.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: All right, this is really random, but I need an opinion: anyone else think that disclaimers on fanfic are just utterly pointless? I mean, if you're posting a story on a **_**fan**_**fiction website, then, obviously, you don't own the original story. I understand the disclaimers where they give credit to a song or something, but saying that you don't own **_**Twilight**_**, for example… isn't that pointless? I say this because when I was reading through my past chapters, I saw that I did this once and realized that it made no sense whatsoever… Anyone agree? All right, rant over, onward!**

Seth and I were the only people in the house. Leah had insisted he went with her to pay Sue a visit, but he didn't want to leave me alone with Carlisle at the hospital and the rest of the Cullens hunting. I was mere days over five months and standing was getting harder and harder as the days went by. I still refused to sit still. When Sue told me to rest, I went for a walk. I figured that if I was going to have to deal with being unusually vulnerable for the next four months, I might as well get used to it.

I was lying on the couch, my head on Seth's lap, enjoying the feel of him stroking my hair. It was the twenty-sixth of December, so I was, in a way, recovering from the holiday madness. I'd helped take down decorations that morning, even though the fact that the extra help wasn't needed was voiced quite often, so I was naturally exhausted.

Christmas was a delightful event. Alice went overboard, of course, and gotten everyone overly extravagant gifts. She'd given me a gorgeous diamond necklace that we both knew I desperately wanted to keep, even though I insisted it had been too much. She, Esme, and Bella had finished my little girl's room, but still refused to show it to me. They were taking a break before starting on the next room.

The best event of the day, however, occurred at midnight. Seth and I were up in my room, enjoying the beautiful moonlight. We were discussing the name for our son for what seemed like the thousandth time. We were just about to give up, when the same name came to both our minds. We knew it was the one, and as soon as it was officially decided, a chorus of small kicks started inside me. There seemed to be no other possible name we could give him. That was obviously the right choice.

My cell phone rang, interrupting the sweet silence I'd been relishing in. I straightened myself and stood up with one of Seth's hands on my back for support, and went to answer it. The caller ID stunned me. I had expected it to be Alice or Jasper, but it wasn't.

_Aunt Rose_, my phone read.

I wasn't sure what to do. The last time I answered one of her calls, it had been the day before, in fact, she'd tried to be nice and wish me happy holidays, but ended up calling me unspeakable names. I wasn't sure if I wanted that verbal abuse again, but, then again, it might've been something important.

"H-hello?" I stammered hesitantly into the phone.

"Jazzness!" Emmett's voice greeted me. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, hey, Em," I said. "What happened to your phone?"

"A bear ate it," he growled. "I got it back… but not in one piece."

I rolled my eyes and went to sit back to Seth. "He lost his phone," I mouthed to him when he gave me a questioning look. He chuckled.

"So, what's up?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said. "The girls are out hunting. Eleazar and Garrett are in the garage playing darts. I thought you'd need your daily dose of Emmett."

"Oh, boy," I muttered. "Em, please, no."

"Why?" he teased. "You know what I want to know."

"I am not discussing this with you!" I exclaimed.

"C'mon, Jasmine, you have to tell me! I won't tell Jazz, promise." His voice was amusingly pleading. "Just tell me how you got pregnant."

I sighed. "Well, Em, you see, when a man and a woman love each other very much," I began sarcastically.

"Jasmine," he whined.

"Emmett, you're such a child," I muttered.

"I just want to know the details."

"I refuse to discuss this with you!" I screamed.

"Why?"  
"Because it's none of your business!"

"But—"

"Forget it!" I snapped my phone closed just in time for it to thankfully run out of battery. I rested my head on Seth's shoulder and whimpered in annoyance.

"What is _wrong_ with him?" I asked, mostly to myself.

"No one will ever know," Seth answered, trying to be spooky.

He tilted my chin up and kissed me softly. I smiled in response.

"When do you think Alice will be home?" I asked. "I want to go for a walk." Alice had completely ruled out me walking by myself or with anyone who wasn't her.

"Not sure," Seth replied. "They've been gone all day, so I don't think they'll be much longer."

Not five minutes had passed when the back door opened. Alice bounced in followed by Jasper, Bella, and the rest of the Cullens.

"'Evening," Alice chirped, kissing my cheek. "How was your day?"

I pretended to yawn. "Boring. I've been waiting for you to get home all day. I need some fresh air."

"Have you been feeling dizzy or sick, Jasmine?" Carlisle asked using his 'doctor voice' as I'd come to call it.

"No more than usual." I smiled.

"I think fresh air will do her good," Carlisle said, looking at Alice. She took my hand and lifted me up off the couch.

"Esme, Bella; you two want to come?" I asked.

Esme smiled warmly. "We would love to," she said. Both she and Bella followed us outside.

"We'll be back!" Alice called behind her shoulder before she closed the door.

There was still some sun out so we decided to walk through the forest. It was a bit chilly, but not as much as was expected for a Forks winter. When we were somewhere in the middle of the greenery, Alice's facial expression changed.

"I smell humans," she whispered.

Esme and Bella proceeded to sniff the air.

"You're right," Bella said.

"What are humans doing in the forest?" Esme gasped.

"I don't know, but I don't like the prospect of this," Alice said. "We need to get Jasmine back home."

Sadly, we couldn't walk very fast on my account. Before I knew it, the four of us were surrounded by four men. It was too dark for my eyes to see them, but they were all tall—taller than us.

I knew I hadn't a reason to be afraid. I mean, I had three vampires protecting me, for crying out loud! I still couldn't shake the fright that was running through me.

"Well, well, well," a dark voice said from behind me. "Look what we have here."

Bella, Alice, and Esme positioned themselves so that they were hiding me as much as they could.

"We were on our way to a club and we thought we heard someone," the male in front of me said.

"Looks like we found our dates," one of them chuckled.

"Excuse me!" I could almost feel the annoyance coming off of Alice as she softly pushed one of them back. "We're married!"

"So?" the fourth said. "That doesn't make a difference."

Bella motioned to me. "She's pregnant," she stressed. "Does that mean absolutely nothing to you?"

"Nope," a voice answered. One of them tried to grab Esme's arm. She snapped it in two with one hand. He fell to the floor screaming in pain.

"We got them," Bella said. She grabbed one by the shoulders and started to pull him away. Esme and Alice each worked on destroying one. I couldn't see very well and I could feel myself becoming dizzier and dizzier as the seconds ticked past. Every second, the forest around me seemed to be getting darker.

"We lost him," Bella gasped. She sniffed the air desperately. "We killed his three friends, but he got away. I'm not sure where—"

I cut Bella off with my scream. Somehow, one of them managed to escape Esme, Bella, and Alice. He'd punched my stomach hard and I fell to the floor.

"That was for the baby!" he screamed mere seconds before Alice snapped his neck in two.

I was crying and whimpering when Esme took me in her arms.

"Shh, shh, it's okay, honey, it's okay, you're going to be fine," she said to me as we ran through the forest. We were back in front of the Cullen house in seconds.

"We have to get her to a hospital!" Bella cried.

"You two, go," Alice commanded. "I'll follow in a minute. I have to warn the others."

Bella started to protest. "But, Alice—"

"Go!" Alice screamed before rushing inside.

I wasn't aware of anything more than the throbbing pain from my stomach. I knew my babies were in danger. Bella drove faster than usual as I fought to stay conscious. I screamed the entire way to the hospital. The second Esme opened the car door; a nurse heard my screaming and rushed over with a wheel chair to help.

"What happened?" the frazzled nurse asked.

"She got punched in the stomach and she's pregnant," Esme cried as they sat me in the wheel chair. Tears streamed down my cheeks like razor blades as they wheeled me into the hospital. The nurse ran to the desk.

"Doctor Cullen, we need you!" she said into a speaker. Carlisle stepped in the room and his eyes widened when he saw me.

"Oh, Jasmine, what happened you to?" he whispered as he pushed my wheel chair down the hall. The nurse, Bella, and Esme followed.

"Laura, she'll need an emergency ultrasound," Carlisle said.

"Yes, Doctor Cullen," she said, scurrying away.

"Jasmine, stop fighting it," Esme ordered. "Fainting won't hurt you. It'll just make your life and Carlisle's job easier."

I nodded weakly and gasped for breath as I closed my eyes. I let my consciousness slip away, silently praying for the safety of my children the entire time.

_**xX Later Xx**_

I felt numb, but I didn't think that was my fault. The doctors probably drugged me.

The light of the hospital room blinded me when I opened my eyes. Through my numbness, I could still feel the pain from that blow in my stomach. I felt a warm presence by my side and, lo and behold, Seth was there. Once my eyes adjusted to the light and I was able to see his face, I could tell his eyes were swollen and tears still stained his cheek. I lifted my hand to wipe the wetness away. His hand cradled my own to his face.

"We lost him," he said, his voice breaking on every word. "We lost Gabriel."

I felt as if my world was crumbling because of those words. Tears blurred my vision and I started to shake violently.

"No!" I screamed. "No! We couldn't have lost him! We didn't!" I looked up through my tears at his heartbroken face as I squeezed the life out of his hand. "My son is not dead."

He brushed my hair out of my face and brushed away a tear. His eyes, too, were about to flood.

"I'm afraid he is," he said, putting one hand on my stomach. I felt a single, faint kick. But that was it.

It was then that I noticed the other people in the room. Seth wasn't the only one with me. Alice, Jasper, Sue, Leah, Carlisle, Esme, Jacob, Nessie, Jade, Ali, Edward, and Bella were all crowded around my bed. Alice was dry sobbing and Jasper had both his arms around her, stroking her hair with one hand.

"Honey, I'm so sorry," Esme said, rubbing my leg empathetically. "I know how it feels."

"Both Emmett and Rose actually wanted to be here," Nessie said. "They couldn't make it in time, and Rose wasn't sure you'd enjoy her presence very much. She wanted to apologize, though."

I put one hand to my stomach again. My unborn son, my Gabriel, was dead, and he hadn't even had a chance to live yet.

"We did everything we could, Jasmine," Carlisle sighed. "But even everything wasn't enough to save him."

Jade, her eyes red from crying, came to my side and took my hand. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, shaking her head slowly. "This shouldn't have happened. Bad things need to start happening to bad people. The good should be spared."

"My poor baby," I sobbed. Seth moved from his chair to sit on my bed. He held me close as I sobbed into his shirt. I heard the comforting words of my family and friends, felt their touches of sympathy, but none of them mattered to me. No word—no action—could bring my son back. I couldn't go back in time to stop myself from taking that walk. If I'd only known that this would have happened, I wouldn't have gone anywhere near that forest. _I _killed my son. It was my fault that he wouldn't have a chance to live now.

Because of me, neither Seth nor I would be able to hold in our arms our own little baby boy. Even when my head throbbed and I knew it should've been impossible for my body to produce more tears, I continued to cry. As they wheeled me out of the hospital, I cried. During the entire drive home, I cried. While Seth carried me upstairs, I cried. And hours after I'd been laid down in my bed, I continued to cry. There came a point where all I did was dry sob, because my body really was unable to produce more tears. Seth held close the entire time, caressing my cheek or stroking my hair. Once or twice I felt one of his own silent tears drop onto my face. It was three in the morning when I was finally able to sleep, but I woke up not long afterwards after dreaming of the angelic face of a little boy with tears in his eyes.

"Why won't I be born?" he'd asked me, sobbing. From then, I tried my hardest to keep my eyes open for fear of falling asleep again and having to face yet again the questions of my unborn Gabriel.

Just when I was slipping back into sleep, I heard a voice that snapped me back. It was unmistakably Rosalie's voice, coming from downstairs.

"Is she okay?" Her voice was frantic.

"She's fine, Rosalie," I heard Alice assure her.

"Oh, this is just terrible!" Rose cried. "If I'd stayed, I could've gone with the four of you on that walk! That fourth lunatic wouldn't have been able to get away!"

"Rosalie, don't waste your time with the past," Esme said. "Unfortunately, it happened. I don't blame you, and I'm sure Jasmine doesn't either."

Esme was right. Blaming Rosalie for any of it hadn't crossed my mind for even a millisecond. It didn't make sense to blame her for anything at all. Silently, I crept out of bed, ignoring my horrid reflection when I passed by the mirror. I made my way down the stairs, and Rosalie's face crumpled when she saw me. Her eyes—golden again, much to my relief—flashed to my stomach, and for a second I thought I saw a hint of the Rosalie who had attacked me months before. I blinked and immediately that disappeared.

"Jasmine, I'm so sorry," Rose sobbed. "I'm such a stupid, selfish, disgusting creature."

Without even thinking about it, I threw my arms around her neck. Tears were streaming down my cheeks, but they weren't from sadness anymore. I had my aunt back, and that was enough to make me crack a single smile.

"Don't ever say that about yourself," I said.

"What are you doing?" she asked, referring to my fingers that were running through her hair. "Why are you comforting me? You should be throwing some chair at me and telling me that you never want to see me again."

"And why on earth would I do that?" I asked. "Rosalie, I've gone for too long feeling that you despised me. Now that I have my family back together, it almost makes losing my child seem not so cruel."

Rose laughed. "You've always been such a terrible liar," she said.

I sighed sadly and put one hand on my stomach. She was right—I had been lying. Losing Gabriel wasn't something that could easily be forgotten.

"True," I sighed. "But having my family together again makes this day seem just that much less terrible."

"You need to sleep," Esme said.

"You look like crap," Alice muttered.

"Can I sleep on the couch?" I asked. "I don't think I have the strength to make it upstairs right now."

Esme smiled. "Of course, dear. Sleep wherever you like."

I was asleep before my body hit the couch.


	19. Chapter 19

It was April tenth, four days before my due date and I was huge—absolutely huge. I was undoubtedly going to have a bad hunchback when this was all over.

Since I lost Gabriel, I'd tried to not be completely miserable. Rosalie and Emmett were back to stay, so that definitely shone some light on life. The fact that this was the warmest spring the Olympic Peninsula had ever seen also helped a bit.

Emmett pestered me every single day. He was still dying to know the details of my private life, which I hadn't shared with anyone voluntarily. Edward, though, got his fair share of information using his mind reading skills. I tried to be careful with my thoughts around him, but occasionally something would slip in. He'd already promised me he wouldn't tell Jasper, but I was sure Jazz could feel the disgust coming off of Edward whenever he read my thoughts. He hadn't confronted me about it yet, and I prayed that day wouldn't come soon.

Bella was still upset about the whole Switzerland war, and I decided that I really didn't want to know why.

Alice, Bella, and Rose had insisted on taking me shopping for baby clothes even though I told them that the trip would go much faster without me holding them back.

"But we already decorated her entire room without your help!" Alice had whined. "We want your input on _something_!"

Did I think it was a good idea to spend a day out when I was due so soon? No, but I trusted Alice. She obviously knew what she was doing.

"Jasmine, we've got to go!" Rosalie said, pulling me out the door of my bedroom and down the stairs. Nessie was in the living room watching _Brady Bunch _reruns with a cup of blood—probably AB positive, her favorite—in her hands.

"You sure you don't want to come with us?" I asked her.

She took another sip from her cup. "Nah," she said. "My week's been overactive anyway. I need some time to just relax."

"All right," I said. "Don't empty out the blood fridge, though, someone might need it."

I smiled and she laughed. Rosalie pulled at my arm and dragged me to the garage.

"See you later!" I called, hopeful that Ness would hear me. Rose threw me into the backseat of Alice's Porsche before sitting down next to me. I buckled my seatbelt as Alice backed out of the garage.

"What took you so long?" she asked me as she adjusted her mirrors. "We'd been waiting for you forever."

"Sorry," I said sarcastically, "but it's hard to move quickly when you can't see your feet."

Alice cracked a smile as she sped in the middle of two cars on the freeway, ignoring the honks behind her.

"Do you never worry about going to jail?" I muttered.

"When I'm with you, sort of," she answered. "I can't see my future very well when I'm with you. When that little wolf baby is out, I'll be glad, because then I can stop asking Edward what your plans are. I'm starting to think that boy is just trying to disgust me. I doubt your thoughts are that explicit."

My face flushed and I coughed falsely so I could have an excuse to cover my face with my hands.

"So where is it that we're going to, Alice?" Bella asked much to my relief.

"Olympia," she answered automatically. "They just opened a new Babies 'R Us there. Maybe stop in Port Angeles, too."

The only sound in the car for the rest of the drive was the music that the radio was playing and my occasional whistling. When we finally pulled up to a parking spot in Olympia, I decided my sweater wasn't necessary. The sun was out and no clouds threatened to ruin the light. I slung the sweater over my purse anyway, just in case.

Alice practically flew to the store and Rosalie was half a step behind her. Bella stayed behind with me.

"You're not all that into this are you?" I asked her.

She sighed. "Not exactly," she said. "I would've rather stayed home with Ness, to tell you the truth, but I like to be here for you. A person can only take so much Alice alone." She laughed.

"I know she means well," I said, "but sometimes she just goes overboard. She shouldn't spend all her money like this."

"Oh, as if Alice would ever need to worry about money," Bella said laughing. "If she ever needs more, she'll predict another trend in the stock market and _boom_; hundreds more!"

I chuckled. "True, true," I said. "Frankly, I'd really like to stay home this week. I'm feeling exhausted."

Bella's face was a mask of concern. "Well, are you okay? Do you need to sit down?" She tried to push me down onto a bench.

"No, no, Bells. I'm just whining," I assured her. "I'm fine."

"Alice is crazy taking you out when you're so near you're due date," she commented as we continued to walk. "If you feel something hurt and you're suddenly standing in a pool of water, please tell me."

I laughed. "I will, Bells. I'm sure Alice knows what she's doing, though. She's Alice."

"Well, we'll see," she muttered. We walked through the doors of the large, white building Alice and Rose had gone into.

"Jasmine, Jasmine, Jasmine!" My name was squealed into my face by both of them and I was pulled forward by Alice.

"You have to see what we found!" she said. She led me through racks and racks of baby clothing until we came to a shopping cart already piled high with dresses, shirts, and other small garments.

"Oh, you must be Jasmine," a woman with curly brown hair and light tan skin said, walking toward me.

"Oh, Jazzy, this is Jocelyn. She was helping us while you and Bella were outside," Rose said, motioning toward the tall woman. We shook hands and a series of completely unexpected kicks started within me.

"Oh!" I gasped, one hand automatically flying to my stomach.

"Is something wrong?" Jocelyn asked, clearly alarmed and turning to Alice. Alice smiled.

"Oh, no, I think it's just the little girl kicking," she said.

Jocelyn smiled. "May I?" she asked, motioning to my stomach.

"Of course," I said. To be honest, I didn't like the idea of a woman I barely knew touching my stomach, but I didn't want to be rude. She put one hand on my belly and her eyes widened at the immediate response.

"Well, she certainly is quite the little kicker, isn't she?" she mused. "How many months are you?"

"Actually, I'm due in about four days," I said.

"Four days!" she gasped. "Let's hope your water doesn't break while you're out of the house." Obvious translation: Make sure you don't get this carpet wet, because then I'll have to clean it. It was practically written all over her face.

"Anyway," Bella said, trying to change the subject, "Alice, you said you had some things to show Jasmine?"

Alice's face brightened. "Uh-huh!" she said, nodding rapidly.

Jocelyn brought over a chair for me since my legs were getting tired and Bella stood behind me. Both Alice and Rosalie took one outfit after another out of the cart to show me. I shook my head when I didn't like something and voiced my enthusiasm when something beautiful was shown to me. Alice and Rosalie had done a good job picking things out, so shaking my head hadn't been necessary more than once.

The hours passed quickly, and before I knew it, we were at the register paying for practically half the store.

"Where are we going to put all this?" I asked Alice when we were loading the bags into her car. Esme had even driven the Jeep over because all of it couldn't fit in just the trunk of the Porsche. She'd left before Bella and I had made it to the parking lot.

It was an unnaturally beautiful evening, so we went to the nearest Starbucks and sat outside on a table while I nibbled on a cookie.

"So, Alice," I started as an attempt to make conversation. "What are we going to do with everything we just bought?"

"Haven't you noticed the closet in that room?" Alice asked. "It's as big as yours! I'm sure we can store it all in there."

I took another bite of my cookie. "If you say so," I muttered, accidently spitting several chunks out. I flicked them off the table with my solid purple nails. We sat in silence for no more than three minutes before a rain drop landed on my hand. Another one followed, then another, then another, then another. Soon, it was pouring.

"Crap," I muttered, laughing. I slipped my sweater on and pulled the hood over my head. Bella, Alice, Rose, and I ran to the car—squealing and laughing like little girls the entire time. When we were all safe inside, Alice shook out her pixie hair.

"That's going to need a fix," she giggled, fluffing her hair out with one hand while looking in the rearview mirror.

We all continued joking, laughing, and singing loudly to the songs on the radio as Alice pulled out of the parking lot, and for a second, I felt like we were a bunch of high school girls again, on their way home from a weekend shopping trip with the trunk filled with bags of new clothes that we were going to show off at school on Monday. But one look at my bulging stomach, and I knew that wasn't the case—and I really wouldn't have had it any other way.

Nessie was waiting on the front porch—her knee length auburn hair soaked from the rain, along with the rest of her body—when we arrived. Her brown eyes were cast down on a puddle in front of her and she was tracing an unknown pattern in it with her finger. She looked up when we pulled into the driveway.

"Thank God," she said when she saw me and my usual hugeness. "When you guys didn't get home, I was worried Jasmine might've popped."

I laughed. "Not yet, Ness, not yet."

I put my hand over my head to shield me from the quickly falling rain.

"I'd hate to spend this beautiful weather inside," I said sarcastically, "but can we go into the house?"

Alice laughed. "I second that."

We all rushed inside and locked the door behind us. We were all soaked to the bone and we were leaving a dripping mess on the new carpet.

"Crap," Rose muttered. "Esme's gonna kill us."

"Eh, you're right," Bella said, wringing out her hair. "I suggest we go take showers, then come back and clean this up."

We all nodded in agreement and went our separate ways to our rooms to get new clothing. I decided to take the bathroom right across from my room and saw Bella heading downstairs and Rose, Alice, and Nessie taking the three other bathrooms on the second floor.

I turned the temperature up on the shower water as high as it could go and let it heat up as I undressed. The water burned my skin, but I ignored it as best I could. The water undid the knots in my back and relaxed my muscles. I tilted my head back and let the steaming water wash my face. The burning on my eyelids was almost unbearable, so I didn't remain like that for long.

Once I was dry and dressed again, I stepped outside the bathroom door and let all the steam evaporate. The television was on downstairs so I imagined I was the last one out. Alice looked up and smiled when she saw me.

"I see you're finally wearing that shirt I bought," she said, scrutinizing me. "You look nice."

"Thanks," I said as I descended down the stairs. I'd been wearing a blue and black boat-neck shirt that Alice had bought me a while back. I'd found it at the back of my closet that I was almost afraid to go into.

I sat on the couch, wedged between Alice and Renesmee. Nessie was holding a tub of popcorn.

"Want some?" she asked, tilting the bucket in my direction. I grabbed a handful. She chucked several popcorns into her mouth. Rosalie was crouched in front of the DVD player.

"What are we watching?" I asked as I started on my second handful of popcorn.

"_Interview with the Vampire_," Bella said with a smirk. "Then, when that's over, we thought watching _Dracula_ would be a good idea."

"And we also have _Thirty Days of Night_ and _Kiss of the Vampire_," Alice said as she laughed.

"Wasn't that last one supposed to be terrible?" I asked, unable to suppress my smile.

"All the more reason to watch it," Nessie said. I stopped her from shoving more popcorn into her face.

"Ness, easy on the popcorn," I said, giggling. "The movie hasn't even started and you're almost done with it."

"We have more," she said.

"But aren't you worried about that stuff going to your thighs?"

"Nope," she said, eating more. "Half vamp, remember? This stuff can't hurt me. Besides, I wouldn't be talking, Miss My-Stomach-Is-So-Freaking-Huge-I-Can't-Even-See-My-Feet."

I took a kernel from the bottom of the popcorn bucket and chucked it at her. She caught it in her mouth and after a few loud _crunch_es, she swallowed it.

"Yum," she muttered sarcastically, immediately chugging down her water. "Ugh, I hate the way those things taste."

I laughed as my eyes wandered around the room. They fell on the coffee table that was loaded with different DVDs.

"Goodness, guys, what did you do; rent out all the vampire movies from Blockbuster or something?" I laughed.

"Yes," Alice, Bella, Rose, and Nessie said at once.

"You just love seeing how they make fun of your kind, don't you?" I asked.

"We find it extremely entertaining," Alice said.

"As entertaining as it may be," Rosalie said, standing and fast forwarding through the opening commercials of the movie, "but I can't wait until a vampire film comes out that actually does us justice. I mean, really, look at me." She flashed her teeth with a smile. "Does it look like I have fangs?"

I chuckled. "Nope," I said. "Looks like you're not afraid of garlic either," I joked.

"Of course I'm not," she said, tossing her golden hair over her shoulder and taking a seat as the movie started. "The smell of garlic is simply intolerable, and I'm sure I can find hundreds of humans that agree with me."

"Shut up, Rosalie," Bella said, just in time for the first line of the movie to start.

I actually paid attention to the things happening on the screen. Bella had turned off all the lights and drawn the blood red curtains together that had been hanging on the windows. The only light was coming from the television, as well as the only sound aside from mine and Nessie's breathing and the occasional gasp or two. I jumped at several scenes.

It had been so quiet in the room that Nessie's voice frightened me so badly that I jumped so high, I fell off the couch. I scrambled to get back up.

"Out of popcorn," Nessie muttered. "Of course."

I stood up and took the bowl from her hands.

"I'll get it," I offered. She smiled.

"Want us to pause the movie?" Alice asked, her hand inching toward the remote.

"Nah," I said, shaking my head. "You guys can keep watching it. Making popcorn can't take that long."

Alice moved her hand back to her lap.

"All right," she said. "If you're sure."

"I'm sure," I said. She shrugged and turned her attention back to the growing flames on the screen.

I made my way into the kitchen with the few kernels rattling around in the bowl with every step I took. I placed the bowl on the table as I searched the cupboards for popcorn. I searched and searched for a bag, but my efforts led to no avail.

"Ness," I called. "We have no more popcorn!"

"Aw, what?!" she screamed back. Seconds later, she was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, taking her first step over to me.

"You're kidding me," she muttered. "There has to be some—ah-ha!" She pointed to the very top of the cupboards. "There's some up there!"

"Don't expect me to try and reach that," I said. "Can you?"

"Um," she hesitated. "Here, I think I got it." She hoisted herself up onto the counter and stretched up on her knees to reach the box. She knocked it down with the tip of her finger and it fell on my head.

"Ouch," I muttered as I rubbed my head and picked up the box.

"Sorry," she said apologetically as she hopped down onto the floor. "My bad."

I handed her the box. "Here," I said.

Renesmee opened the cardboard box and pulled out a packet. She shoved it in the microwave and pushed several buttons before slamming the little door closed. She stood crouched down in front of it and watched it.

"Ness, you're gonna get skin cancer," I teased

"Ha, ha," she said, rolling her eyes.

I rolled my eyes as well and turned to the window, completely unprepared for the pain that shot up my spine. Before I knew it, I was standing in a puddle of water.

Shit…

"Ness." My voice came out as a strained whisper. Nessie turned around to find me crouched over, holding my stomach.

"Oh, my God," she gasped. "Alice!"

Alice came running into the room, followed by Bella and Rosalie.

"What's—oh crap." Her eyes widened and her jaw drop.

"Bella, get Jasmine to the car," Rosalie said urgently. "Alice, get Seth on the phone! Jasper and Carlisle are with him."

"On it," she said, pulling out her cell. I was doubled over, trying to breathe calmly.

"Breathe, Jasmine, breathe," Bella said as she scooped me up delicately in her arms. "In, out, in, out."

I tried to do as Bella said while keeping my hearing focused on Alice.

"Seth! Oh, God, she's going into labor! Please, get to the hospital as soon as you can!" Alice was screaming into the phone. Her pale little body was shaking as we went outside. Bella laid me in the front seat of the Porsche and closed the door. Alice climbed into the driver's seat and rolled down my window. I was still breathing quickly.

"We'll follow in the Jeep," Bella said. "Just go!"

Alice put the car in reverse and we zoomed out of the driveway.

"Yes, Seth, she's doing fine… I think," she was saying into the phone.

"Let me talk to him," I breathed. She passed me the phone.

I summed up all the energy I could. "I HATE YOU FOR THIS!" I yelled. I threw the phone onto the floor of the car and Alice stared at me with reproach for a few seconds before returning her attention to her driving.

"I can get another one," she muttered.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Did ya like my surprise last chapter? ;) Yeah, I didn't intend to make it happen so soon, but after considering all the things I want to happen in this one story, I realized that this needed to happen soon so that things could go the way I wanted. Oh, and one more thing…**

**I HAVE **_**OVER**_ **200 REVIEWS!!!! w00t!!!!! ILY ALL (in a very non-creepy way)!!!!!!**

**Playlist for this chapter consists of a single song: Goodnight My Angel by Billy Joel. Yeah, I'm sure you've all heard it. XD**

**Oh yeah, and, this chapter is dedicated to my twin (all right, not really my twin, but she might as well be). Nana, this one's for you!**

I laid face up on the hospital bed, my entire body drenched in sweat. My hair clung to my head and my breathing was ragged. It was exactly eleven o' clock in the morning on April eleventh. A few minutes before midnight on the night of April tenth, Nayeli Alicia Clearwater Cullen had been born.

My happiness was unmatched by anyone else in the world, I was sure. I hadn't even had more than a glimpse of my child yet, and I already loved her with all my heart. I was officially a mother, and Seth—who, for the record, I do _not _hate anymore—was a father. We couldn't have asked for anything more.

My body heat might have matched that of a werewolf at the moment. The heat from Seth's arm that rested around my shoulders didn't bother me in the least. The only sound in the room was our steady breathing as we waited for the nurse to return with our baby. I heard footsteps coming down the hall, but they were much too perky to be Melissa's—the monotone nurse. They could only belong to one person.

"I'm a grandma!" Alice squealed as she bounced into the room. Jasper, Bella, Nessie, Rosalie, and Esme followed behind her. Carlisle was the last one in, and he was holding and examining a clipboard.

"Well, Jasmine, Seth, I'm sure you'd like to know that Nayeli is in perfect condition," Carlisle said with a smile. I squeezed Seth's already sore, red hand as a smile crept over my lips.

"She's breathing steadily and her heart rate is ideal," he continued. "Her temperature is normal, considering the fact that she's a werewolf descendant, of course." He said the last part in a whisper, but it was loud enough for me to hear. I looked over and saw Seth beaming. I couldn't help my own grin, either.

"Oh, and she's so cute!" Alice said, clapping her hands.

For an empathic vampire, Jasper hardly ever showed much emotion. But, today, his smile had been broad and visible to all, and, if I hadn't known better, I might've sworn I saw tears glisten in his eyes.

Suddenly, Melissa's head peeked inside the room.

"I have your daughter," she said, smiling for the first time. "Would you like to see her?"

I nodded quickly, unable to form words. I pushed myself so that I was sitting upright as Seth moved closer to me. He gave my shoulders a squeeze as Melissa entered holding my baby. She put Nayeli—wrapped in a soft pink blanket—in my arms. Even through the blanket, I could feel the warmth radiating off her skin. I touched her cheek softly and noticed how her skin was definitely warmer than my own—not by any means as hot as that of Seth or any of the other werewolves, but still.

"Hey, there, Nana," I said, gently leaning my head down and brushing my nose against hers. She shook a bit before reaching up blindly and grasping the air with her small hands. Seth put one of his fingers in close proximity to her and she caught it in both her hands.

"Nayeli." Seth said her name with love and tenderness as he stroked her cheek. "Hi, little one. I'm your daddy."

"And I'm your mommy," I added, smiling.

"And _I_'m your grandma," I heard Alice say. I pulled my eyes unwillingly from my little daughter so I could see Alice's face and smile at her.

"Please, please, _please_, Jasmine, you have got to let me hold her!" Alice begged. I hated the thought of releasing my baby for even a second now, but seeing the desperation in Alice's eyes was enough to tear me down. I smiled and nodded. She came forward slowly, clutching part of her new, off the shoulders, black and white dress.

"Are you sure my skin's not too cold?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. She turned to Carlisle.

"Nayeli has a blanket," he said, grinning at her. "I don't think a bit of cold will hurt her. She might even need it. Poor child must be sweating bullets, what with the blanket _and _her normal heat."

Alice nodded slightly, reached forward, and lifted Nayeli gently out of my arms and into her own. She stepped back and leaned into Jasper, softly rocking Nayeli back and forth.

"Hey, baby girl," she said. "I can't wait until you're older. I'm gonna take you shopping, and buy you new clothes, and shoes, and remodel your room, and everything!"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Of course Alice wouldn't be able to wait to take Nayeli shopping for the first time.

Nayeli was passed from person to person in the room. Even Carlisle held his great granddaughter.

"Where are Leah and Sue?" I asked once Nayeli was in Seth's arms. I stroked her arm with my finger absentmindedly as I waited for an answer.

"They're with Edward, Emmett, Jacob, and Jade in the waiting room," Esme answered. "Only five people were allowed in here at once, aside from the doctor and husband of course," she added with a smile.

"Where's Ali?" I asked, confused. I thought she'd come to the hospital with Jade.

The entire room was quiet. From the nervous glances everyone gave each other, I knew they'd been hoping I didn't ask.

"Her mother passed away," Rosalie said, patting my foot. "When her father saw her dead, he had a stroke. Her sister is studying in Milan, so she and her brother had to take the first flight to Georgia she could manage. She'll be staying there for a… long time. She wanted to be here, but it just couldn't be done."

I sighed and bit back some tears.

"Yeah, I get it," I said, nodding. "She needs to be with her dad now. The next time she calls, let her know I get it, and that her mom is in a better place now. And I'm sure her dad will make it through." I'd only met Ali's parents once when they came to visit her and her older brother a few years back. Her mother had seemed so young, vibrant, and full of life. I couldn't believe that a woman with an energy that rivaled Alice could be gone so suddenly. Her father, Richard, had been a stern, yet caring man. It had been obvious that he couldn't live without Alessandra.

"Poor Ali," I whispered. I wasn't sure what I'd do if I lost Alice or Jasper. Poor girl was probably taking it real hard. I rested my head on Seth's shoulder and caressed the top of Nayeli's small head.

"I love you, Nana," I whispered, kissing her forehead. "I promise I'll never leave you."

"You'll always have a family that loves and supports you," Seth added. "Forever."

"Forever," I repeated. "My favorite word."

"Well, Jasmine, I just need to go double check Nayeli's charts, and then you should be able to go home," Carlisle said. He smiled at me. "So, if you'll excuse me…" He gave his great grandchild one more smile, a wave, and then he left the room.

"Thank goodness I can finally get out of here," I said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I really want to get back home."

"You haven't even been here that long," Alice giggled.

"So? My back is killing me," I said, trying to sit up. I turned my torso to face Seth and Nayeli, reaching up with one hand to touch my baby's cheek.

"She's so beautiful," Seth commented, staring at her with kind eyes. "Just like her mother."

I smiled up at him before returning my eyes to the small, sleeping face in front of me.

"I can't wait to see her eyes," I said. "Eyes can tell a lot about a person, you know." I looked up at Alice.

"Alice, do you think you can see when she'll open her eyes?" I asked.

"Hm… I can definitely try," she said carefully. "I can't guarantee anything, though. She may not have phased yet, but the werewolf genes are still alive in her. I'll see what I can do."

Jasper wrapped his arms around Alice's waist and rested his head on her shoulder. Her eyes closed and her fingers went to her temples. She stayed perfectly still for one, two, three minutes. When her eyelids finally fluttered open, she turned to face me. Her face was troubled, and slightly sad. Alice's eyes, I could tell, were still showing her the future.

"She'll open her eyes in three days," Alice said. "But, the vision is confusing. You're holding her in your arms, outside, on the doorstep. It's barely the crack of dawn, so Nayeli is asleep. I'm pretty sure someone is next to you, since you look like you're talking to someone. I can't see them, though. It might be Nessie, it might be Seth, or anyone else from the pack—sorry, not sure. You're crying, but I'm not sure if you're sad or happy. I can't see your face very well in the vision. It's blurry.

"There's a bus in front of our house. I'm not sure where the bus is from, but it's there, and it's waiting. You turn away from the person and watch. I think they're walking to the bus, but I can't be sure. There's rain—lot's of rain. The bus drives away and Nayeli starts to cry. That's when her eyes open. I can't say more, though. My seeing won't tell me more."

I pursed my lips.

"I don't understand," I said.

"Don't worry," Alice said, shifting her position so she was standing with both her arms around Jasper. "I don't either."

At that moment, a small yawn came from Nayeli. My eyes flashed to her face just in time for a single wail to escape her lips.

"Shh, shh," I said, attempting to calm her. "It's alright, Nana, it's alright."

Nayeli continued to cry, turning her head in every direction—searching blindly for something, or someone. I stroked her cheek with my fingertips, trying to soothe her.

"Aw, Jasmine, do something," Alice said. "I hate seeing her little face so distressed."

"Um…," I searched my mind for an idea—_any _idea. I didn't like seeing my baby cry. Not one bit. My thoughts immediately went to a lullaby I had recently heard: Goodnight My Angel by Billy Joel. I wasn't sure if I could remember the lyrics exactly, but I would try my best. Seth ran a warm hand down my cheek in comfort.

"Goodnight my angel, now it's time to dream," I sang. "And dream how wonderful your life will be. Someday your child may cry, and if you sing this lullaby…" Oh, how I wished I could one day hear my child sing, if not this lullaby, then anything at all. "Then in your heart there will always be a part of me."

I continued to sing the rest of the song while the room remained hushed. Nayeli's cries quieted more and more as the lyrics were sang. Eventually, one of her arms fell to her side and the other fell with her thumb in her mouth. Her face turned peaceful once more and her breathing came evenly. Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief. I fell backward onto my back again.

"Goodness, even _singing _gets me tired," I said. I reached out and took Seth's hand in my own, enjoying the feel of it in my own. He gave my hand a light squeeze and the small contact sent shivers up and down my spine. Carlisle entered the room at that moment. His clipboard was—for once—was at his side instead of lingering in front of his eyes.

"Well, Jasmine, looks like you're free to go," he said. His smiling face turned to Nayeli. "And so is little Nayeli here."

I thanked him with a smile.

"I'll go bring you a wheel chair," he continued. "I assume you're not quite up to walking at the moment, correct?"

I nodded. "Yeah, you could say I'm sort of tired."

Carlisle chuckled. "I'll be right back." Then he turned on his heels and exited the room once more, only to return less than half a minute later with the wheel chair.

"Seth, can you please help her stand?" Carlisle asked as he positioned the chair next to my bed.

"Of course," Seth answered, standing. He handed Nayeli to Rosalie—who held her with all the tenderness and care she was capable of—and held my hand tightly with another arm supporting my back. I plopped down into the wheel chair and Rosalie reluctantly handed me a soundly sleeping Nayeli. I looked up and gave Rose a smile.

The smile she returned me was wrong—it didn't reach her eyes. I could tell she was fighting back the monster that had overcome her so long ago. She walked toward the door.

"I'm going to go find Emmett," she said, forcing another smile. She was gone before any of us could respond in any way.

"This has to be killing her," I sighed as Seth wheeled me out of the room.

"You worry too much," he chastised halfheartedly. "Rosalie will be fine."

I tried hard to believe his words, but I don't even think he believed them. I concentrated on the child in my arms—on the fact that I'd never let anything harm her, that she was my daughter. Born from love, from joy, from commitment, from devotion, she was. Let's hope that would be enough for, well, eternity.

"In you go," Seth said once we were in the parking lot. He hooked one arm under my legs and another around my shoulders before picking me up and carrying me into my car (which I was seriously going to have to drive one of these days). I clutched Nayeli to my chest the entire time.

Leah—who I had not seen until that moment—sat in the backseat with Nessie. Seth took the driver's seat.

"Easy on the speed, all right?" I pleaded as Seth reached over to buckle my seatbelt. "I know you love driving fast in this car, but…"

Seth chuckled. "I know, I know," he said. "I'll take it nice and slow."

"Hey, Seth, did you use that same line on her when you guys were in Paris?" Leah snickered in the backseat.

"Oh, God," I muttered. "Leah, you're just like a female version of Emmett."

"As much as I hate the bloodsuckers," she said, "being compared to that big, perverted teddy bear almost makes it seem okay."

I rolled my eyes. "So odd," I uttered.

I fought back the urge to close my eyes and let myself drift into the land of sleep. I was so exhausted, words couldn't match it. I would've loved to just sleep and let my body relax, but I couldn't miss a second of these moments. They were the most precious, perhaps. I would never get them back, that was for…

My eyes closed against my will, and though my arms remained tight around my daughter, I drifted to sleep.

…

"Jasmine," Seth's voice whispered in my ear. "Wake up, Jazzy. We're home."

I tried to open my eyes, but they felt like they'd been super glued closed. When I finally managed to wake, I noticed we were in the house.

"Ah, home," I whispered. "Nice to be back again."

"Jasmine, you weren't even gone for a full forty-eight hours," Seth chuckled.

"I know," I said. "But it felt like so much longer."

It was then that I noticed the empty feeling in my arms. I realized who I was missing.

"Where's Nayeli?" I asked, immediately standing. I was prepared to fall from my abruptness, or at least become so dizzy I'd need to throw up. But I didn't. I felt the way I hadn't felt in nine months. I felt strong.

"She's upstairs in her new room with Alice, Rose, Bella, Leah, and Nessie," Seth said, smiling. "They were all very eager to spend some time with her. I can take you, if you want."

I took his hand—and it was nice being able to hold it without needing it for support—and basically dragged him up the steps. We stopped at the first door at the beginning of the hall, where we could hear cooing from various voices. I turned the knob and entered the room.

Alice, Bella, and Esme had really done a great job. The walls were a pretty, pale purple and everything they bought seemed to match perfectly with each other in some way. I particularly loved the fairy calendar that hung in the corner of the room. April tenth had been circled in a red Sharpie. It in, I could clearly see the words "Happy Birthday, Nayeli!" written. The pale purple curtains filtered the sunlight and a white rocking chair sat in a corner.

Alice had filled the room with everything Nayeli could possible use. And, lying in a darling crib against the left wall and wrapped in a fluffy blanket, was little baby Nayeli herself.

"You're suffocating my daughter," I joked to let them know I was there. The five of them stood crowded around Nayeli, oohh-ing and aww-ing. Bella had her hands behind her back.

"Oh, Jasmine, she's so cute!" Leah squealed.

"Adorable," Rose said sincerely.

"Oh, I'm an aunty!" Nessie exclaimed.

"I love what you did with the place, by the way," I complimented.

"Yeah, it's nice," Seth added.

"Thanks!" Alice said, her face brightening. "We were hoping you'd like it."

"I love it," I said.

"Esme would've loved to see your face, but she went to go get the mail," Bella said. "So…" She pulled a camera out from behind her back and snapped a picture of both mine and Seth's faces.

I was much too happy to be bitter about the picture. She could've taken dozens of snapshots of me at the moment and I wouldn't have cared. Everything was perfect.

"Glad to know you liked it," Esme said, walking into the room. She was searching through the mail.

"Oh, Seth, here's one for you," she said and handed him an envelope. I didn't get a close look at what it was. Seth stayed in the doorway to open the letter and I went to pick up Nayeli. Her head rested on my shoulder and I could feel her warm breath on my neck. I turned around and saw Seth staring at his letter in shock.

"What is it?" I asked, curious. I'd never seen that exact look on his face before. He flipped the letter over so I could see it. All I could really make out was a fancy looking seal at the top. He opened his mouth a few times, but no words seemed to come out. When he finally managed to form a coherent sentence, I couldn't believe his words.

"I'm getting drafted."

**A/N: And so Baby Nayeli is born. **

**Hope you liked the chapter! ^^ And about that last part, ahem, yeah, dun kill me. And, FYI, Nayeli (the RL one, not the story one) I changed the garage number so YOU CAN'T COME KILL ME! HAHA! **

**Reviews are love!**


	21. Chapter 21

I almost dropped Nayeli. Hell, I almost dropped to my knees.

Seth's words continued to ring in my head. They seemed to echo through the room. Everyone was silent. My legs shook violently and I clutched Nayeli as if for dear life.

"Drafted," I whispered. My eyes were wide, my voice quivered.

"They need more soldiers in Switzerland," Seth said.

"Esme, take Nayeli," Alice said. I couldn't find the strength to take my fingers from my daughter at a moment like this, so Esme had to pry my hands away from her small body. Every part of my body was trembling. If Seth hadn't rushed up to me and put his arms around my waist, I would've fallen over. I laid my head on his chest and tried to control my sobs.

"You can't go," I sobbed. "I won't let you."

I felt a pair of cold, shaking hands on my equally shaking arms.

"Jasmine, if he doesn't go, he'll go to jail," Rosalie said into my ear.

"He can't go," I said again. "H—he could d—die."

"I'm not going anywhere," he said, stroking my hair. "Not yet."

"What if you get hurt?" I cried. "What would I do without you?"

"Don't worry about that, Jasmine," he whispered. His lips pressed to the top of my head as I continued to soak his shirt with my tears.

"Leah, you should call your mother," Esme said. That was the first time I paid attention to the slight whimpers behind me. I turned my head to see Leah's face soaked with tears. Esme rubbed her back with one hand.

"I should," she said and pulled a phone from her pocket. She dialed her mother's number.

"Mom?" she said into the receiver. "I think you need to get to the Cullen house… You are? … That was nice of you… You'll know when you get here… See you then." She snapped the phone closed.

"She's on her way," Leah informed us.

I nodded and wiped away my tears. I had to put on a strong face for my daughter, my husband, and the rest of my family. My mother had been a strong woman, I believed. She wouldn't have liked to see me so vulnerable.

I summed up enough courage to ask one of the most vital questions. "When do you leave?"

"Friday," Seth answered.

"So soon?" I yelped, mortified against my will.

"This was sent over a month ago," he said, his eyebrows furrowing. "Must have gotten lost in the mail."

"I can't believe this," I sobbed into my hands. He took my hands from my face and cradled them in one of his own. With his other hand, he brushed back my hair.

"Don't fuss up that beautiful face of yours with tears," he said, brushing away a few of my tears.

I barely noticed that the only person in the room aside from us was Nayeli. I walked over to her crib and blew her a kiss.

"We love you, Nayeli," I whispered.

"We'll always love you," Seth added.

We stayed there for a while, arms wrapped around each other in silence.

"So we have until Friday?" I clarified, trying to keep new tears from overflowing.

Seth nodded soberly.

"Three days," I whispered, "isn't a lot of time."

"No," he agreed. "It's not."

"We have to make the best of it."

"We do."

Without really thinking about it, I took his hand in mine and led him out of the room, down the hall, and into our own bedroom.

"It's been so long since I've slept in here," I said. "I haven't even been able to make it upstairs for some time."

Seth chuckled.

The curtains were drawn together and, thanks to the door being closed, there was no light coming in from the hall. Times like those, when it was just Seth and me together, made everything else in the world seem unreal. Everything that was going on—including the fact that my husband and true love was getting sent to war—seemed to dull to the point where it was almost gone. Almost.

Seth's warm lips met mine and I was almost one hundred percent sure that the world stopped moving. His mouth moved with mine as if we were made for each other. We _were _made for each other, and at times like this, I never failed to forget it.

"Seth, Jasmine!" Leah's hoarse voice called from downstairs. "Mom's here!"

I sighed as everything became real again. Sue was here to know the news I dreaded to hear again.

"You go on down," I said to Seth. "I'm going to go get Nayeli."

He brushed my hair back before exiting the room. I left right after him and went back into Nayeli's room. Her soft snores filled the large space as I went to her crib. She stirred ever so slightly as I picked her up in my arms, blanket and all. Her small head and hands rested on my shoulder.

"I love you, Nana," I whispered in her ear. "I promise that your daddy and I will never leave you." I bit down on my lip, failing to stop the tears from coming down my face. "Daddy's not going to die. He won't."

I took a couple of deep breaths and stroked the top of her head. I hummed a random melody as I carried her downstairs. From the top of the stairs, I could easily see Sue's tear-stained face.

"Why did this happen?" she was saying, shaking her head. Leah had her arms around her mother and Seth had his head in his hands. His fingers ran through his tousled black hair. Seeing the scene made my tears start all over again. I continued down the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible.

"My little boy," Sue sobbed.

I'd been crying freely by then. Sue was too busy sobbing into her hands to notice my being there. Leah was hugging her mother as Seth just stared at his hands and shook his head. I was making my way over to sit at the end of the couch, but Seth pulled me into his lap before I could get there. I curled up against him and squeezed Nayeli in between my curled up knees and chest. She didn't seem to mind. Seth put his arms around both of us and stroked my hair.

My eyes had been closed, so I hadn't noticed when Sue looked up.

"Such a precious child," she cooed softly. I looked up through tear filled eyes at her.

"She is extremely adorable," Sue continued, petting Nayeli's small head. "How is she going to get along without her daddy? Hm? Did you ever think of that, Seth?"

"This isn't my decision, Mom," Seth said. "They need more soldiers."

"And, oh, what if you—what if you—what if you die, Seth?" Sue continued, as if Seth had never spoken. Her voice broke audibly on the last word. "What will she do then? A broken family, she'll have."

Seth sighed, defeated, and stopped trying to reason with his sobbing mother.

I wasn't sure how long they'd been there, but when I finally found the will to open my eyes, I saw the entire Cullen family—plus Jacob—in the room.

"Leah, I think you should take your mother home," Carlisle said carefully. "She needs time to come to accept this, and being around Seth won't make this much easier for her."

Leah wiped at her eyes and reclaimed the fierce, powerful expression she usually had. It might've been believable if her face hadn't been stained with tears.

"Let's go home, Mom," she said, taking her mother by the arm and helping her stand. Sue didn't even try to struggle against there. She just rested her body against Leah's—limp and almost lifeless as she was practically carried out of the room. I bit my lip and held Nayeli tighter.

"Is there any way we can get around this, Carlisle?" Alice asked with desperation in her tone.

Carlisle sighed heavily. "Not that I know of, Alice," he said. "I can't be sure how to avoid this in any way. Our family has never had to deal with this; therefore I haven't found a way to solve the problem. As far as I am concerned, we cannot evade this."

"Are you sure?" I begged. "Can't we at least try to…" My voice trailed off. Try to what? Defy the government? Yeah, right. I really didn't want to go to jail.

"I'm afraid there's nothing I can do," Carlisle sighed. "I can make sure Seth is well prepared for any kind of combat, but that's as far as my abilities will take me."

"I could always try to improve my capability of seeing werewolves," Alice chimed in halfheartedly.

Carlisle's face showed that he was clearly deep in thought. "Actually, Alice that idea may actually prevail. If you could manipulate your visions enough to be able to see shape-shifters, then perhaps we could warn Seth if something bad was to come his way."

"But how do I…?"

"Actually, I think Jasmine can answer that," Carlisle said, a smirk light on his face. I cocked my head in confusion, mirroring Alice.

"Jasmine, I've been noticing that, in a way, you've inherited Alice's power, except it seems to have become less subjective with you," Carlisle said. "When we went to Volterra, your dream had been a vision of the future. I also understand that, along with this, you've been having some very lucky guesses when it comes to the past, as well.

"When you first arrived here, I saw that you knew the names of things you'd never seen before. You were able to associate the Volturi with Volterra and you were able to recall your mother's native language even though you'd only been with her for mere hours. I've been curious to see how this inheritance would evolve should you become a vampire, to tell you the truth. In these dreams of yours, you've been able to see half-breeds such as the wolves, correct?"

I nodded, still mildly stunned. Alice looked dumbstruck.

"So Jasmine has my ability to see the future?" she clarified. Her voice was uncertain, as if she wasn't really sure what she was saying.

"Not necessarily," Carlisle said. "Yes, she has somewhat inherited your ability, Alice, through your family bloodline. I imagine your sister had it in her veins; it just wasn't as potent as it had been in you. She passed it on to her father, who in turn passed it on to her."

"But her visions are less subjective?" It was the first time Jasper had spoken. He looked proud instead of shocked like the rest of us.

"Yes," Carlisle said. "Being the imprint of a wolf, she is able to see them, whereas Alice cannot. From her past experiences, she can see Renesmee as well." He motioned towards Nessie who was clinging to Jacob instinctively.

"But Alice can't see the past," Esme interceded. "How can Jasmine see the pasts of different people? It can't be genetic, unless her mother was clairvoyant as well."

"But that would be too much coincidence for one lifetime," Edward muttered. Carlisle's hand was on his chin and his brow was furrowed—his sign of frustration.

"I can't be sure," he said. "My only guess is that one of her mother's traits got lost in translation, resulting in this unique addition to her deoxyribonucleic acid."

"In my _what_?" I asked, confused.

"Carlisle, you're losing her," Bella chuckled.

"Your DNA," Carlisle said with a slight smile.

"Oh," I muttered. No wonder I got a C- in biology back in high school.

"I guess we can say that we're glad we didn't leave her at the orphanage," he said. "That headmistress was an old fashioned woman. If she'd found out, Jasmine may have very well ended up in an asylum as well." He looked sideways at Alice who playfully stuck her tongue out at him.

"All right, Carlisle, how can I help Alice?" I asked, making sure I had a good hold on Nayeli. I stood.

"That's up to you," he said. "I can guarantee you it won't be easy. I can't help you much more, though. I haven't had any experience with handling something like this, and my shift at the hospital starts in half an hour." He walked over and gave me a tight squeeze. "You're a strong girl, Jasmine. I'm sure you can figure something out. But now I really have to go." He took his jacket from the coat rack and grabbed his bag. He gave Esme a peck on the cheek and nodded a goodbye to each of us before making his way out the front door. The only noise in the air for a while was our steady breathing and the sound of Carlisle's car backing out of the driveway.

"All right," I said after a while. "I guess we should… get to work."

"Here, Jasmine, I'll take Nayeli," Rosalie offered. "I'll take care of her upstairs. Away from all this."

I nodded and gave Nana a kiss on her sleeping head before handing her to Rose. I didn't miss the way her eyes lit up when she held my baby in her arms.

"I'll go with her," Emmett murmured, hurrying to catch up to his wife. I turned to face Alice and Jasper.

"Any ideas?" I asked. I hadn't meant for it to sound like I was only asking them. I needed everyone's help now. Seth's arms wrapped around my waist as he pulled me to him.

"Nessie," Bella said suddenly. "She can project her thoughts to other people."

I caught on immediately. "Ness, have you ever tried projecting things other than your own thoughts?"

She hated being put on the spot like that—I could tell by the way her face reddened when all eyes turned to her and how she very subtly hid half her face in her hair.

"Well, no," she said. "But I could try."

"All right, then, let's try it," I said.

Everyone made sort of a circle around us. Seth gave me a kiss before standing back next to Jasper. Nessie stood between Alice and me.

"Ready?" she asked.

We both nodded. I bit my lip.

"Hold on," I said. "Is it going to hurt?"

Nessie giggled. "Don't be silly, Jazzy," she said. "It doesn't hurt transferring memories, does it? This shouldn't be really different."

"Ness, this isn't just transferring another memory or thought," Alice said. "You're transferring power."

"Alice, you're scaring me," Nessie confessed. She took a deep breath. "Let's just… concentrate. Alice, concentrate on receiving power. Jasmine, concentrate on giving it. We need to make this work."

She put a single hand on both our shoulders. The three of us closed our eyes. I concentrated on the past—everything about it. Every moment I'd ever spent with Seth, with Leah, with any wolf. _Alice can see wolves. Alice can see wolves. Alice can see wolves. Alice can see wolves… _

My thought process continued as I concentrated on the wolves, on my apparent power to be able to see the future of wolves. I wasn't sure how long it went on, but I knew it had gone on for too long when Nessie collapsed to the floor.

"I can't do it," she said, gasping for air. "I can't."

"Oh, Ness," I whispered, dropping to my knees next to her. "I'm sorry—I shouldn't be making you do this. It was a stupid idea, it's not even working."

"No, Jasmine, you're doing fine," she said, looking up at me through her brown eyes. "Your power flew into me."

"How do you know?" I asked her.

"I don't know," she said, shaking her head. "I know it's not in me anymore because its presence was so powerful. I had it in me for a few seconds, but I could transfer it to Alice. The… signal, I guess we can call it, wasn't strong enough for that. It was in me, but not enough of it was in me.

I was able to receive it because I was touching you. You were able to give me some of it, but not permanently. I'm not sure what more we can do."

"We can always try again," Alice said. "Come on, Ness. We can do it on the floor, if it makes it easier for you."

Nessie gulped, but nodded. Alice sat cross legged next to her. The three of us held hands.

"Jasmine, you can't try to just give it to Alice without having Ness in it?" Bella's frantic voice asked from behind me.

"I don't think so, Bells," I said. "We need Nessie's power for this."

"It's alright, Momma," Nessie assured her with a sheepish smile. "I'm fine."

Bella was quiet.

We closed our eyes again and concentrated. _Alice can see wolves. Alice can see wolves. Alice can see wolves._

This time, it was my turn to fall forward. I was curled up on the floor, breathing heavily.

"Oh, God," I gasped. "This isn't working."

Nessie took my hand in hers and gave it a squeeze for support. Seth came up to me and wrapped his arms around me. I closed my eyes and tried to continue concentrating through my exhaustion. It was amazing how much trying to transfer a power took so much out of you.

"I got it!" Alice piped. "It's in me, I can feel it. Keep going, keep… going."

It was like a lightning bolt shocked me. I jumped.

"It worked!" Nessie announced. She was sweating, and one hand to my forehead proved that I was too. I grinned.

"Alice, can you try it out?" I asked. "Just to see if it really worked?"

Alice smiled meekly and nodded. She put her fingers to her temples and went into 'vision mode.' She was perfectly concentrated for one, two, three, four, five minutes. When her eyes fluttered open, she looked dazed.

"I can see them," she said. "Leah and Sue just arrived home. Leah went wolf to talk to the pack. And, Nessie…" Her head whipped to the side. "There's a surprise in store for you."

"A surprise?" Nessie squealed. "Good or bad?"

"Good," Alice said, smiling. It might've just been my imagination, but I was almost sure she peeked over at Jacob. I shrugged it off.

"How are you three feeling?" Esme asked.

"Tired," Nessie replied. "I think I'm going to go take a nap. Momma, did you leave the door to the cottage open?"

"No," Bella replied. "We'll go with you." Bella, Edward, Jacob, and Nessie waved goodbye to everyone before exiting out the back door.

"My head hurts, but it's nothing I can't handle," I assured her, standing. I leaned into Seth, but my face turned into a mask of worry when I realized Alice was looking paler than usual, and she hadn't even tried to stand.

"I'm still… recovering," she whispered. "I need to get used to this improved vision—its presence is kind of wearing me down. Jazz?" She motioned to him blindly with her hand. He knelt down next to her and took her hand in his. "Can you take me to our room? I need to lie down. Aspirin won't help me, so resting is the most I can do for myself now."

"Of course," Jasper answered, taking her in his arms and flying up the steps with her. I tilted my head up so I could look at Seth.

"What do we do now?" I asked him.

"We make the most of our time," he said. He pressed his lips to mine and I melted into happiness, knowing that sorrow may not be far off.

**Author's Note: I hope you guys have enjoyed the chapter ^^ Excuse me if it was a bit confusing—I tried to make it as clear as possible. Now, there's something I seriously need to talk to you guys about. From the looks of it, I might not be able to fit Angel in a Blender into less than, well, 40-60ish chapters. So, I want to know, do you guys, my totally pwnsome readers, think that I should just keep going without worrying about my chapter number, even if it gets to be one hundred and something, or just make a part three? If you guys decide that a part three is what you want, then rest assured that I do already have some ideas for it. **

**So, here are your choices:**

**A: Continue with this one story; I don't care if it's a bazillion chapters long, then, when you're done, continue with a new story.**

**B: Make a part three**

**C: Just cut down your ideas to fit into 30ish chapters and continue with a new story.**

**Since a lot of you don't vote in my polls, just give me your answer in a review, please. ^^**


	22. Chapter 22

Friday the thirteenth—how cliché.

Three days had passed since Nayeli was born, since we received the letter that tore my heart out, since I'd given Alice the ability to see werewolves, since Jacob gave Nessie the surprise of a trip to Venice. The Cullens were taking Jacob and Ness to the airport in a few minutes—they were taking an early flight. I was staying behind with Nayeli to… see Seth off. The bus would be here soon. I hadn't slept since the night before, and now it was four thirty in the morning. After hours of crying, I still wasn't done. They were silent tears now—not violent and body shaking like they'd been earlier. Nayeli had just eaten; oh, the joys of breast feeding.

Of course, all the Cullens didn't have to go. That part was my fault. I'd even managed to convince Alice and Jasper to leave me alone today.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you?" Alice asked softly. "I really don't think you should stay by yourself."

"I have Nayeli," I said. My voice shook and I was proud of myself for being able to form a coherent sentence.

"You know that's not what I mean," Alice said. "Sweetie, I know this is a tough day for you."

"I hate how you're talking to me like a mother talks to her daughter on the first day of high school," I snapped, harsher than I'd intended. "I can take care of myself, Alice."

Alice didn't seem phased by my little rant. She sat down next to me on my window seat. It was raining buckets outside and lightning lit up the sky. Seth was in my closet, changing into the uniform that had arrived for him the same day the letter had.

"I know you can," Alice said. "That's what I'm worried about. Nobody going through something like this should be this calm."

"Well, you can stop worrying," I said, my voice breaking on every word. I tilted my head forward to rest it on her shoulder and started sobbing again.

"That's more like it," she whispered in my ear. Her fingers ran comfortingly through my hair. "Don't worry about it. If something bad is coming Seth's way, we'll know, and we'll let him know." She gave my head a kiss. "We better get going. You already said bye to everyone, right?"

I nodded and tried to go back to the silent tears again. After sobbing for so many hours, my headache was unmatched by any other in the world, I was sure. Alice left the room slowly, as if waiting for me to go back into my sob-fest and beg for her to stay home.

I didn't, and she walked out of my room clearly disappointed and worried.

It was a while before I heard the garage door closing. I was about to stand to go get Nayeli, but my closet door opening interrupted me. Seth came out in his dark green uniform and I would have fallen to my knees if he hadn't caught me.

"Shh, shh," he whispered, running his hand through my hair. "It's alright. Everything's going to be fine. Today's just another day. Nothing to worry about."

"There is too something to worry about!" I cried into his chest. "And don't you tell me there isn't!" I wrapped my arms around his waist and slapped him slightly when I heard him chuckle.

"You promised you'd never leave me," I whispered. "What happened to that?"

"I'm still keeping my promise," he said. "This is no different from the times you stay here and I go down to visit my mom or back in college when we took different classes. We part for some time, and then later on we see each other again."

I bit down long and hard on my lip. "But what if this time you don't come back?" I whispered.

"I will come back," he said. "I swear to you that I will come back. I won't leave you forever."

"I'm holding you to that," I said. A sob escaped my lips.

"Oh, no way, don't cry," he said to me. "Let's go see Nayeli. I bet she misses her mom."

I pressed my lips together and resisted the urge to say, _And I bet she'll miss her dad._

I expected him to take my hand and walk to Nana's room. Instead, he swooped me up into his arms, flung me gently over his shoulder, and carried me like that out of my own bedroom, down the hallway, and into Nayeli's room.

"We are so too old for that," I laughed, despite myself.

He set me down on the floor. "No we're not." He winked.

Nayeli's small body was shivering. The only thing covering her was a thin blanket.

"Aw, poor Nayeli," I cooed. "She must be so cold." I wrapped several blankets around her, keeping in mind the fact that I was going to have to take her outside in a bit. The reminder sprung new tears to my eyes which didn't fail to poor over.

There was a honk from outside. I started shaking with sobs as I realized that that meant.

"It's time," Seth whispered. I nodded, keeping my eyes down. He put one arm around my waist and we walked soberly down the stairs and outside. We stopped on the doorstep. Just like Alice had said in her vision, it was the crack of dawn, and it was raining. Nayeli was asleep.

"Promise me you'll be careful," I said to him. He wrapped his arms around me and I cried.

"Remind me why I'm leaving you here," he said. "I shouldn't be doing this. I love you too much to leave you."

"Remind me why I'm letting you go," I sobbed. "I wish you didn't have to do this."

"I don't want to go," he said.

"I don't want you to go," I whispered.

He tilted my head up and looked into my eyes.

"Every time I look into your eyes, Jasmine… It's like I'm falling in love with you all over again."

"Don't forget to write," I said. "I'll need to know you're okay."

"I promise," he said, holding me to him. "I will come back for you."

"And, Seth?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

He crushed his lips to mine for one last, love-filled kiss. The bus driver honked the horn again and we reluctantly pulled away from each other. He kissed Nayeli's forehead and caressed my face one last time.

"Bye, Jasmine," he whispered. I pressed my lips together and forced one last smile for him. He turned around and walked toward the bus slowly. The doors opened and he stepped inside, turning his head subtly, allowing me one last glance at his caring face. How much longer would it be before I could see him again? I couldn't be sure.

In my arms, little Nayeli started to cry.

"Don't cry, Nana," I whispered. "I'm doing enough crying for the both of us."

As the bus drove away from the house, Nayeli's small eyelashes fluttered.

"Her eyes," I whispered to myself. "They're opening."

Her eyes were large and suit her angelic face perfectly. She had complete heterochromia—just like my mother. Her left eye was blue-green, the exact shade both of mine were. Her other eye was the dark, molten chocolate brown I'd seen on only one other person: Seth.

"Beautiful," I whispered through my tears. "She's beautiful."

And somehow I knew that she always would be beautiful—inside and out.

I took her inside the house and cranked up the heater. It was as cold as a crypt in there—no pun intended. Somehow, I'd managed to stop my crying. I carried Nayeli on my hip up the stairs and into my room, marveling at her eyes the entire time.

"Let's look at some old pictures," I said, half to myself, half to Nayeli. I reached under my bed and pulled out my photo album. I wiped a coat of dust off of it. I hadn't taken it out since that fateful day nine months ago.

I walked over to my small couch and sat Nayeli on my lap before starting to flip through the pages. I loved how every page was filled with some kind of treasured memory. There were pictures of me with Alice and Jasper from a few years back, when I'd first arrived, pictures from multiple summers before, and, of course, pictures of Seth and me.

Most of the book consisted of the both of us in different places with our arms around each other. We weren't even looking at the camera in the majority of the photographs. I giggled softly at the few from prom. Towards the back, there were a few pages filled with pictures from Harvard.

"Oh, my God," I laughed when I turned the page. "I remember that one."

_"Alice, I am not going to a club," I said for the thousandth time. "Nothing you do can make me go."_

_She ignored me. "I left an outfit for you on your bed in the dorm."_

_I groaned. She'd been doing this all day. Emmett, Rose, Bella, Edward, Jasper, Alice, Jade, and Jade's new boyfriend had all been going to a club about an hour away from campus every Friday night for the past two months. This time, Alice was trying to get me to go._

_I refused._

_"I am not going to a club!" I screamed for the final time. I stepped into our dorm room. Alice was ready to go, wearing the shortest shorts she owned, a purple spaghetti strap shirt, and a light grey, short sleeved sweater. _

_Alice smirked. "All right, then," she said, putting her hands up in surrender. "I'll just have to tell Seth to dance with a random girl he finds there."_

_"Seth is going?" I asked, too quickly. _

_"That's right," she sang. "He'll just have to dance with someone else."_

_I grinded my teeth together and stared daggers at the small girl in front of me (not that she was much shorter than I was, but whatever). I slammed the door in her face._

_"So I guess I'll see you there!" she called. That was the last thing I heard before her footsteps retreating down the hall. I rolled my eyes and locked the door behind me. I hated when she did that._

_I examined the clothes Alice left me on the bed. _

_"Oh, hell no," I said. There was no way I was wearing jean shorts shorter than even the ones Alice was wearing and a red mini sweater with nothing underneath. Was she really asking me to go have fun at a club, or did the place need someone to dance on the pole?_

_I ransacked my closet, looking for something to at least put under the sweater so that all that skin wasn't exposed. I settled on a plain black singlet, then after trying to find a way to cover more of my legs, decided that nothing could be done about that. I was slipping on a pair of high heels I was borrowing from Alice—without permission, but she deserves it—when there was a knock at my door._

_I looked through the peephole and saw Seth. I smiled and opened the door, forgetting that all I had on at the moment were the shoes, the shorts, a pair of earrings, and a strapless bra. _

_"Well, there is no way that anyone other than me is ever going to see you like that," he chuckled when I opened the door._

_I looked down and blushed immediately, grabbing the singlet off the chair and slipping it over my head._

_"Sorry bout that," I laughed. _

_"Don't be sorry," he said. "If we were going to stay here, I wouldn't have minded you wearing that."_

_"Oh, really?" I laughed sarcastically. "If it had been up to Alice, I would've been wearing something relatively close to that."_

_"Well, let's be glad it's not up to Alice," he said. "But I'll make sure to tell her to pick out your clothes more often for the days when we're home alone." He winked at me._

_I smacked him lightly with the red sweater before pulling it on and tying it into a knot in the front._

_"All right, let's get this over with," I muttered. _

I'd actually found myself having fun that night, and we went with them every Friday afterwards. Alice had taken a picture of us while we were dancing, of course.

I continued to flip through the pages, crying as I did so. My tears stained the pages. I sat staring at one picture for so long. It was the first photo taken of us as newlyweds. Eventually, I found the strength to flip the page and saw the pictures of my mother and father.

"Look, Nana," I said through my tears. "That's your grandma, and that's your grandpa."

Nayeli made some kind of rolling sound with her tongue. I laughed quietly.

"See her eyes, Nana?" I said, pointing at my mother's eyes. "Those are your eyes."

"Jasmine," Alice's soft voice called from downstairs. "We're home."

"Coming," I whispered. My voice was hoarse, I could scarcely understand myself. I was just about to stand when Alice and Jasper appeared in the doorway. They walked toward me and sat on either side of me. Both of them put their arms around my shoulders.

"You okay, hun?" Jasper asked giving me a squeeze.

I took in a deep breath. "Yeah," I said, strained. "I'm fine. I'm… fine."

"Jazzy, if you wanna be alone, we can go," Alice assured me. "We don't need to be here if you don't want us."

"No, no," I assured them. "Stay."

Alice's eyes fell on Nayeli who sat up as well as she was able in my lap.

"Her eyes are lovely," she commented, stroking the skin around Nayeli's eyelids.

"She's growing quickly, that one," Jasper said. "Carlisle said it's because she's growing up 'round vampires. You know how wolves tend to start growing when vampires are around?"

I nodded.

"Well, she's around them twenty-four hours a day. She'll probably change young."

"Change?" I yelped despite myself. "As in… you know… go wolf?"

Jasper nodded. "Collin and Brady changed when they were thirteen because of all our friends that came to visit," he said. "And they were no where near the vamps. Imagine Nayeli, who's being raised by a group of them."

I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I decided not to worry about it now. It wasn't as if she was going to change at that very moment, anyway.

"Hey, by the time she's a wolf, I'm sure a new pack will be forming," Alice said. "Maybe she can be Alpha."

I laughed slightly. "Maybe," I agreed.

"Jasmine, don't worry," Alice said to me sternly. "Seth will come home. I've seen it. He's coming home."

"Your visions are still subjective, Alice," I said. "The future will stay the same—"

"Until someone changes their course," she completed. "I know."

"Look on the bright side," Jasper said. "He might not pass the examination."

My heart seemed to lighten up a bit. Could it be possible that they not accept him and that he be sent home?

One could only hope.

**A/N: All right, after tallying up the votes I got in reviews (and in PMs lol) not one, not two, but THREE times to make sure they were accurate, and the final result was… -drumroll- B! So make a part three I shall! **

**Reviews are love! (and reviews for my newest story, The End is the Beginning is the End are even more love! ;D)**


	23. Chapter 23

**.::Eight Months Later::.**

"Jasmine, it's Christmas Eve. Come downstairs."

I turned my face reluctantly from the window I'd been standing at for the past few hours. Snow covered the forest outside the Cullen house and the morning sun glowed bright orange behind the clouds.

"I'll be right down, Alice," I said when I caught sight of her. She was wearing a bright green elf costume that consisted of only a short mini dress and thigh-high stockings. Rosalie, Bella, Nessie, and Leah were wearing the same thing. My very own elf outfit was in the closet, which I should've changed into hours ago. Instead, I'd been staring out the window, hoping to see a sandy colored wolf appear.

"Jazzy, please," she pleaded. "Try to enjoy yourself today. It's Nayeli's first Christmas."

"I know," I said. "I'm happy, really. It's just—I can't help but hope, you know?"

Alice smiled sadly and nodded. "I know."

"I promise I'll be right down."

She puckered her lips, but nodded and went downstairs anyway. I sighed and went into my closet to change into the unnecessary outfit. I was relieved to see that Alice had left me a pair of shorts to wear underneath the short garment. I slipped on a pair of six-inch heels that I'd actually learned to walk well in and made my way downstairs.

I was surprised when I felt something grab my leg when I reached the first floor. I looked down and saw Nayeli, hugging my calf in an attempt to balance herself. Her head rested on my knee.

"She's been trying to walk all morning," Emmett chuckled. "She sort of has the hang of it."

I laughed and pulled Nayeli into my arms.

"She's getting bigger by the day," Leah commented. "She got that from me, you know."

I smiled. "Yeah, Leah, sure."

Of course, Nayeli was getting a lot bigger. She didn't look like she was eight months old. Her hair—already down to her small waist—had been brushed thoroughly and someone, more than likely Alice, put her in a metallic gold dress.

"You look lovely, Nana," I said, rubbing my nose against hers.

She giggled.

"I love that outfit on you, by the way," Alice said. "Seth would've loved it."

Jasper elbowed her.

"What?" Alice asked, offended. "All I said was that Seth… oh. Right. Sorry."

I forced a smile for her. "No, Alice, it's fine."

The room was quiet for a moment. Even Nayeli seemed to sense that something was wrong. She tugged on my hair and looked up at me with her eyes full of worry.

"Present time!" Alice announced after the silence was starting to get too heavy. "Bella, you go first."

"Alright," Bella said, crossing her legs on the floor next to Edward. I was wedged between Leah and Jasper.

"Here you go." Alice handed Bella a small rectangular box wrapped in blue paper.

"Thanks." Bella shook the box lightly before tearing the paper off in one swift movement. The white box read _Swarovski. _She pulled up the lid and gasped in amazement at its contents.

"Oh, Edward, they're beautiful!" she gasped, pulling out a necklace with blue gems embedded in it. After some closer inspection of the insides of the box, she took out a matching bracelet and pair of earrings, which Edward helped her put on.

"Glad you like them, love," Edward chuckled.

"Jasmine, why don't you go next?" Esme suggested kindly. She had a video camera in her hand. I smiled at her.

"Actually, I'd rather Nayeli open her present next," I said, taking a look down at the bouncing child in my arms.

"Glad to see you finally decided," Jasper laughed. "Did you tell Seth?"

"He came up with the idea," I whispered in his ear. "Alice, can you get it?"

"This one?" she asked, holding up a small gold box.

"That's the one." I took it from her hands and put it in front of Nayeli. She looked up at me questioningly. I guided her small hands to the box and put one of her fingers under a fold. She seemed to know what to do and pulled the paper off the box, laughing as she did so. I opened the box for her once she was done.

Her mouth formed an 'o' as she held the cold silver pendant that dangled from a black chain in her small warm hands. Her eyes were glued to it—she looked hypnotized. Eventually, she looked up at me, smiling.

"W—w—w—" She was trying to force a word out—that much was obvious. I stared at her in wonder as she continued to try and say it.

"Woo—wol—wo—wol—wolf. Wolf. Wolf!" She clapped her hands as she continued to say her new word.

"Wolf, wolf, wolf, wolf, wolf!" she giggled.

"Precious," Esme commented.

"Completely adorable," Leah added. She held up her hand in front of Nayeli. "Give me five." Nayeli slapped Leah's hand and went back to her clapping and her chorus of "wolf." I fastened the necklace around her neck and she was finally silent, staring in wonder at the small charm.

"Her first word," I whispered. "And it couldn't have been more accurate."

"Jasmine, how bout making it your turn now," Bella said. "I think you'll like your first present."

Esme handed me an envelope that was more than familiar. It was the same kind of envelope that all of Seth's letters came to me in. Tears welled up in my eyes as I opened it.

_Dear Jasmine,_

_Happy holidays. I hope you're all doing alright. How's Nayeli; is she enjoying herself? When I think I can't keep pulling through here, I close my eyes and see your pretty smile. I can't wait to actually see it in front of me. This is the first time I have been able to return to my bed for a good night's rest in three days, but don't worry about me. I'm too fast for those guys out on the battle field. A bullet just missed me today, but, sadly, it killed the only friend I had here. Poor Ben didn't even see it coming. He has a wife, too, you know. Bella might want to know; Ben and his wife, Angela, were good friends of hers back in high school. It's only made me realize hour precious life is, though. That's why I'm doing all I can to not get even a single scratch on me, so I can return to you and Nayeli and we can be a family again._

_If you've been watching the news, then you must have heard that the war might actually be coming to a close. I promise I'll be home soon. Tell Nayeli I love her. Send my love and greetings to everyone. I love you, Jasmine. See you soon._

_Yours forever and always,_

_Seth._

I was crying fulltime by then, and Nayeli was staring up at me in confusion.

"M—mo—mom—momma," Nayeli stuttered and pointed to the letter, evident confusion in her eyes.

I wiped my tears. "It's fine, honey, it's okay."

One of Seth's friends had died because of a bullet that had been meant for my husband. The thought sent shivers up and down my spine and made a new round of tears attack me.

"Bella," I whispered. "Bella; Seth said to tell you about someone named Ben. He said you knew him. He—he got shot the other day and died."

Bella covered her mouth and sobbed dryly.

"Ben Cheney," she sobbed. "Oh, poor Angela. She must be devastated."

"Poor Ben," Alice said, shaking her head and holding on to Jasper.

"Alice, please. Can you please check Seth's future? Please," I pleaded.

"All right," she said. She closed her eyes and stayed like that for a while. When she finally opened her eyes, she looked frustrated and angry.

"I can't see," she said, stomping her foot on the ground. "Nothing. I can't see Leah, either, or Nessie. Nayeli I can see, but she's so blurry, it might not even be her."

"You're kidding me," I muttered. "You have got to be kidding me."

"There's one thing I can see, though," she gasped. She turned to Jasper and started talking to fast for my ears to understand.

"No way," he said, surprised by whatever Alice had told him. "Why? How?"

Alice shook her head. "I don't know. I just see that it will happen sometime in the future."

"So that means that…"

"Yeah. That's what that means."

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," Alice snapped. "Nothing important, or clear, anyway. Let's continue with the presents, shall we?"

With all the presents under the tree, it took hours for us to open them all. I ended up receiving dozens of clothes from Alice and Jasper, assorted jewelry from Renesmee and Jacob, several pairs of shoes from Rosalie and Emmett, two handbags from Esme, three shirts from Sue and Leah, and the entire Vampire Chronicles series from Carlisle.

"Leah can you turn on the news?" I asked when we were cleaning up. I'd already put Nayeli back in her crib. The boys were out hunting which left us girls to do all the cleaning.

"No problem," Leah said, grabbing the remote and changing the channel. "I thought you had an aversion to the news nowadays, though."

I shrugged but didn't say a word. Since Seth had gone off to war, I had been unable to watch the news, fearing I'd see footage from Switzerland much too gruesome and I'd lose it.

_"After over a year of war, things might actually be starting to clear up and a truce is rumored to be not to far off. If the war ends any time next year, it will have been one of the shortest fights in the history of America."_

Those were the first words we heard when the television was turned on. I collapsed onto the sofa in relief.

"So it's true," I whispered. "This might actually be ending."

"Thank the heavens for that," Sue said, putting her broom aside and coming to sit by me. She put one arm around my shoulder and gave me a tight squeeze.

"What's this I hear about the war ending?" We all turned around and saw Edward making his way into the living room with the rest of the boys behind him.

"Back so soon?" Bella asked, giving him a light kiss. "How was the hunt?"

"It went well," he said. "We caught a few hibernating bears. Not too much fun."

"Hey, Jasmine, we got three tickets to go see a baseball game in January," Emmett said, plopping down on the couch next to me. "You game?"

"Sure," I said. "Who's not going?"

"Jasper," Edward answered with a chuckle. I turned to face Jazz with a questioning look on my face. He'd never miss a baseball game.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because he's whipped," Emmett laughed.

"Laugh all you want," Jasper said, pulling Alice closer to him. "But our anniversary is very important to me." He turned his head and gave Alice a peck on the lips.

"Aw, Jazz, I think that's sweet," I said sincerely, recovering from my laughing fit.

Emmett, however, wasn't so polite and just continued to laugh. Rosalie smacked him on the arm.

"Shut up," she said teasingly. "You should follow Jazz's example. You haven't remembered our anniversary in sixty-two years."

"Yes I have!" he exclaimed, stomping his foot. "It's on March twenty-sixth."

"Wrong," Rosalie said, hiding her amused smile. "June eleventh."

"Right," he said, nodding his head. "I knew that."

There was a loud cry from upstairs. My head snapped to the direction it was coming from so quickly, I heard my neck snap.

"Oh, no," I muttered. "Can you finish the cleaning without me?"

"Don't worry, Jasmine," Esme assured me. "Just go."

I nodded at her with a smile before scurrying upstairs and into Nayeli's room. She was in her crib, resting against the end of it meekly for support. Tears ran down her face.

"There, there, Nana," I said, absentmindedly using an expression I hated. I mean, seriously, 'there, there.' What the hell was that supposed to mean?

"M—mo—momma," Nayeli said softly through her tears. "W—whe—where da—daddy?"

I sighed and stepped over to the window, stroking my daughter's hair softly. She rested her head on my shoulder and her tears soaked my skin.

"I don't know, Nana," I said truthfully. "He's coming back. Daddy always comes back."

Lighting and thunder put on a show outside, and I stepped away from the window, silently praying that my words were true.

**A/N: Hope you guys liked the chapter ^^ Just wanted to let you guys know that I added more pictures to my website for you guys to see ;D Tell me whatcha think.**

**Reviews are love!**


	24. Chapter 24

"Alice, for the final damn time, it's just a baseball game. This," I pointed to the curlers in my hair for emphasis, "is not necessary. Besides, shouldn't you be getting all gussied up for Jasper today? Happy anniversary, by the way."

Alice had been dedicating her time all morning to making sure I was perfect, even though it was _her _anniversary and _I _was only going to a baseball game.

"Your nails are dry," she said, completely ignoring me. I looked down at my black nails that Alice had decorated with white stars.

"Alice, chill. Seriously, you've been acting weird, even for you," I said. "What's going on?"

Alice's eyebrows furrowed. "There's something coming," she said. "But I can't be sure what it is. And it's frustrating me half to death because I know it's huge."

_Maybe Seth is coming home_, I thought. _Maybe the war's over. _A girl could only hope.

"Your clothes are hanging on your closet door," Alice told me. "Get dressed and then come back here so I can take out the rollers."

I sighed, but obliged nonetheless. I stood from the chair Alice had sat me in and started to exit the bathroom. I took a peek behind my shoulder and saw Alice—looking distressed and frustrated—sitting on the counter with her head in her hands. I bit my lip and resisted the urge to go back and comfort her, knowing it would only make it worse. The only person who could ever truly comfort Alice was Jasper, and he was out somewhere preparing a romantic day for the two of them.

I opened my closet door and retrieved the garment bag that had been hanging there. I zipped down the zipper and pulled out a dark pair of straight legged jeans, a short-sleeved black sweater, and a white shirt with black stars. Automatically, I slipped out of the fluffy pink robe that Alice had made me wear and into the clothes. I rummaged under my bed for my favorite pair of ballet flats and put those on, too.

"Alice making a big deal out of her visions again?"

I wheeled around to find Emmett standing in the doorway. He was smiling.

"Yeah, she is," I answered truthfully. "I don't know what's going on with her. I've never seen her this upset."

"I have," he muttered. "She hates having holes in her visions. Makes her feel useless."

"That is so like Alice."

"And she's taking it out on you?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"From the rollers in your hair and the fact that you've just spent about two hours in that bathroom with her, yeah, pretty obvious."

I rolled my eyes. "Tell Edward I'll be down in a sec. I just need Alice to take this stuff out of my hair."

Emmett nodded and chuckled. "Will do." Then, he was gone just as quickly as he'd come. I went back to the bathroom and sat down in the chair. Alice stood from her seat on the counter and started taking the rollers out of my hair without a word.

"Alice, don't beat yourself up about this," I begged once she was done. "I don't want you to be so upset today. Cheer up, it's your anniversary."

She forced a smile for me. "I'll try," she promised. "Now, you better get going. You don't want to be late for the game."

I gave her a tight squeeze. "Thanks, Alice. Happy anniversary. I left you a present on your bed, by the way."

Alice smiled. "I know. Thanks, by the way. It's so pretty!"

"You haven't even seen it yet," I laughed.

"I know," she said with a wink. Oh, duh; she hadn't seen it, but she'd _seen _it. There was a difference like that when it came to Alice. I'd left a small box on her bed with a crystal bear holding a red crystal heart inside it. I'd seen her and Jasper admiring it on a website the week before, so I'd ordered it the same day.

"Alright, I'm out of here," I said, taking my bag from the counter and leaving the bathroom.

"Thanks again!" I called.

"No problem!" Alice trilled. I hurried down the stairs and saw Leah, Rose, Nessie, Bella, and—to my intense surprise—Jade sitting in a circle on the floor.

"Hey, guys," I said, walking up to them. "What're you doing?"

"Playing truth or dare," Nessie giggled. "Wanna play?"

"Can't," I said. "Going out, remember? Oh, hey, Jade."

Jade smiled. "Hi," she said. "Nessie invited me."

"Well, I should get going," I said. "Anyone have any idea where Emmett and Edward are?"

"They're in the garage," Rosalie said. "Waiting for you."

"Thanks," I said. "And, Rose, I thought you were taking care of Nayeli for me."

"Oh, she's with my mom," Leah said. "She stopped by earlier and asked if she could babysit. I figured you wouldn't mind, and Alice wouldn't let me into the bathroom so I couldn't ask you anyway."

"Alright, then," I said. "Bye."

A chorus of goodbyes faded in and out behind me as I walked into the garage. Emmett and Edward were in the Jeep already, waiting for me. I climbed into the backseat.

"Sorry," I said. "Alice. Yeah."

"No worries," Emmett said, putting the car into reverse. "We're not running late."

I looked at the clock on the dashboard. "But doesn't the game start in like twenty minutes? Is that even enough time to make it out of the city?"

"If you drive like Emmett, it's plenty of time," Edward chuckled.

"Glad I've been working on the carsickness thing, then," I muttered as Emmett hit the gas pedal hard enough to break it. I was surprised the thing held up.

"Hey, can I ask you guys something?" I asked.

"Go ahead," Edward said. "Can't guarantee we'll answer, though."

I shrugged. "Just wondering why you asked me to come," I said.

"Didn't we go over this already?" Emmett asked. "Jasper can't go because he's whipped, so we had another ticket we couldn't let go to waste."

"Obviously," I said. "But, I mean, you could've asked Rose or something."

"Nah," Emmett said. "Rose likes playing baseball, but she can't sit through a game."

"Well, then, what about Bella?" I said.

"She hasn't watched a baseball game since she was human," Edward chuckled. "And even then, the only time she ever liked watching baseball was when it was played by vamps."

"Besides," Emmett said. "You need to get out more, Jasmine. Have some fun."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course, Emmett, of course."

"Hey, c'mon. You know it's true."

"Whatever," I said. "Where are we sitting?"

"Front row," Edward said. "Alice predicted sunny weather for the whole day, but, just in case, the lower section is the only part that gets covered if it rains."

"Convenient," I commented. "Anyone know what Jazz was planning for Alice today?"

Emmett shrugged. "He wouldn't tell us. Don't see why he's taking all the time to try and surprise her. She probably already knows what he's doing. I think he said something bout taking her to Biloxi, though."

"Oh, she'll love that," I said. "Hey, Em, can you turn on the radio?"

"Sure thing," he said, pushing a button on the car radio causing it to turn on. Just a Dream by Carrie Underwood was playing.

_"...Then they handed her a folded up flag and she held on to all she had left of him. Oh, and what could have been. And then the guns rang one last shot and it felt like a bullet in her heart._

_"Baby, why'd you leave me? Why'd you have to go? I was counting on forever, now I'll never know. I can't even breathe. It's like I'm looking from a distance, standing in the background, everybody's saying he's not coming home now. This can't be happening to me. This is just a dream…"_

I didn't realize I was crying until I tried to speak.

"Change the station," I croaked. "Now, please."

Edward took a peek back at me and had the station changed before I could blink. I curled my knees up to my chest as the car filled with my favorite song, One Man Drinking Games by Mayday Parade.

_"…And we'd lay there in the darkness like this dream of you I had where we captured all the fireflies and knew what time we had could be counted on our fingertips, and that almost made you cry. But you let me hold you tightly as we said all out goodbyes…_

_"May I say I loved you more?"_

I started humming along with the song absentmindedly. When the song ended and Fighting by Yellowcard started playing, Emmett was already pulling into the parking lot of the baseball stadium. He turned off the car and we stepped outside into the still warm air. Edward put an arm around me in comfort.

"It's okay," he said. "Get that song out of your head."

I nodded, but kept my head down.

"Jasmine, look at me." He jerked my chin up and toward him, so I had to look him in the eye. "Seth _is _coming home. No one will tell you he's not. Even Alice can't say that."

I nodded and forced a smile for him. He sighed, resigned.

"Look, just try to have fun today, alright?" he said. "Your favorite team's playing."

I nodded again and the three of us walked through the entrance and found our seats just in time for the game to start.

Truly and honestly, I tried to enjoy myself, and I think I might've done so a bit better if those few words weren't still buzzing around in the back of my head.

_"It's like I'm looking from a distance, standing in the background, everybody's saying he's not coming home now…"_

Those few words were killing me. I was able to cheer with and high-five the two guys I was sitting between. Emmett and Edward were having a blast and had just managed to dump half of a box of popcorn on my head when Alice called during the seventh inning stretch.

"Hello?" I said, laughing and trying to get all the popcorn out, deliberately shaking my head in Emmett and Edward's direction.

"Hey, Jasmine, how's it going?" Alice asked.

"It's going good, Alice," I said. "The seventh inning stretch thingy started a few minutes ago. And _Edward _should be going to get more sodas now." I said the last part louder so Edward could hear.

"Fine, fine, I'm going," he said, shaking with laughter. I threw popcorn at his back as he retreated.

"How's your day going?" I asked. "You're not calling me from your cell. Where the hell are you?"

"Oh, Jasper brought me to Biloxi!" Alice squealed. "We just visited my parents' graves and we're getting ready to go home. I wanted to call you before we started the trip."

"Taking a plane?" I asked.

Alice giggled. "Don't be silly, Jazzy! We can run faster than a plane can fly!" She laughed again.

I laughed, too. "Yeah, I bet that's true," I said. "Hey, can I talk to Jazz real quick?"

"Sure," Alice said. "Here he is."

"Hello?" Jasper's southern accent greeted me.

"Hey, Jazz," I said.

"Hi, Jasmine," he said. "How's the game going?"

"So far, it looks like Edward and Emmett are gonna owe me seventy dollars each."

Jasper laughed. "Why anyone would want to bet against a descendant of Alice, I'll never know."

"Well, I better let you go, then," I said. "Run safe."

Jasper chuckled. "Safety. Jasmine, we're vampire. Safety is the last thing we need to worry about."

I laughed with him. "Yeah, I guess you're right." I sighed. "Still, be careful, okay? Promise?"

Jasper sighed. "Promise," he said. "Now here's Alice. She wants to talk to you again."

"Alright. Bye, Jazz."

"Bye, Jasmine," he said. "See you soon."

"Hi, Jazzy!" Alice said seconds later. "Alright, so we're gonna start the run home now."

"Kay," I said. "Be careful."

Alice scoffed. "Careful. Yeah, sure. I bet we can still beat you guys home."

I giggled. "I bet you can."

"Okay, we're gonna go. Bye, Jasmine."

"Bye, Alice."

I snapped my phone shut and turned to Emmett, who was talking to some woman in the row above us.

"Em," I said, making him turn to me.

"Gotta go," he told the lady.

"Call me," she said, winking at him before walking away.

"Rose is going to kill your ass," I said, laughing.

Emmett ripped the paper he had in his hands in two. I assumed it was the woman's phone number. "No she's not."

"How do I know you didn't memorize the number?"

"Jasmine," he said, leaning against the railing, "would I do that to Rose?"

"Hm, let me think," I said, pretending to ponder over the thought. "I give that question a maybe."

"Think what you want," he said, dropping the two pieces of paper in some spilled soda on the floor. "But that chick was such a bore. I'm not going anywhere near her again."

"Makes sense," I decided, shrugging. "Now, can you help me get the rest of this popcorn out of my hair?" I asked, turning around. "It's seriously starting to bug me."

"Sure thing," he said and started picking out the pieces.

"Damn, it's really in there," he said, tugging on my hair.

"Ouch!" I screamed. "Here, I got it."

I strung my fingers through my hair and within seconds I had the piece out that Emmett had been fighting to get.

"See?" I said. "Piece of cake."

"Sure, whatever," he said taking his seat again. I sat down next to him.

"So, are you gonna tell me?" he asked after a while.

"Tell you what?" I asked, thinking about what he could be asking me. There was only one thing it could be. "Oh, no, Emmett. Drop it."

"Come on!" he whined. "I have to know!"

"No you do not!" I said.

"Please! Bella wouldn't tell me anything about _her _first time!"

"And that immediately means I should tell you about mine?"  
"Yes!"

"No, Emmett. Let it go."

"Jasmine, come on! You did it and you won't admit it!"

"Em, do I _have _to admit it? I have a baby back at the house; that isn't admitting it to you?"

He smiled. "No, because you haven't said it out loud."

"Shut up, Emmett! We're in public, for heaven's sake!"

"But—"

"I got the soda," Edward said, taking his seat next to me. He passed me mine.

_Thanks, Edward. You couldn't have come back at a better time. _

Edward chuckled. "I know," he said.

The loudspeaker made a noise that made me cover my ears before someone started speaking.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the seventh inning is about to start," the voice said. "But, before we resume the game, please stand and bow your heads for a list of local Switzerland dead."

I bit my lip and closed my eyes tightly as I stood along with everyone around me. The voice over the speaker started reading off names, all unfamiliar to me. I didn't know a single one of the men and women that died, but I still cried. I cried for the families of those people; cried for the hurt they must feel when they find out. And I cried because of the mental image rushing through my head along with the song lyrics from earlier. I kept imagining me at home with Nayeli and the doorbell ringing. I'd stand to answer it, and it would be a man in a military uniform. He'd hand me a letter, informing me of the death of my husband. I'd cry more than I'd ever cried before.

I continued to silently pray for the families and for the people who died as I listened to the man on the speaker reading off names and the cities they were from.

"And, from Forks, Washington," the voice crackled. "Ben Cheney, and Seth Clearwater."

**Author's Note: Ahem… um… maybe not the best time for an author's note, but I added a picture of Jasmine's outfit and of the gift she gave Alice and Jasper for their anniversary to my website… Oh, and I have another new story up, so if someone could go and R&R that, too, then I'd love you forever. It's called You Know My Heart. And, for those who didn't know, I have another one up called The End is the Beginning is the End, in case ya wanna read that… Reviews are still love…**


	25. Chapter 25

My world stopped spinning, my head was reeling.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no!

Seth was _not _dead! He couldn't be! He just couldn't be! I fell to my knees in the stands and sobbed into my hands.

"Poor girl," people behind me uttered. But I scarcely heard them. My head pounded, I couldn't move.

Emmett scooped me up into his arms and I curled up into the fetal position against his chest. This couldn't be happening! I prayed that I would wake up and find that this had all been a terrible, terrible nightmare. That I'd fallen asleep during the game and this was just my mind playing tricks on me.

But whenever I opened my eyes, I was still seeing the world pass by me as Emmett took me to the car. It wasn't long before the news strangled me, and I fell into unconsciousness.

…

When I finally found the will to wake, I felt the softness of a bed under me.

Oh, oh, thank God, I thought to myself. It was just a dream. Just a dream…

But when I opened my eyes and saw the sobbing Leah and Sue in the corner of the room, and heard the dry sobbing of several Cullens, I knew it hadn't been a dream.

I started trashing as I screamed. "No! No, no, no, no, no!" I sobbed.

"The letter came for you while you were out," Jasper said, biting down on his lip as if trying to hold back tears, even though crying was physically impossible for him.

"Honey, we're so sorry," Esme said, sitting next to me on my bed and putting her arms around me. I soaked her shirt with my tears.

"No," I said. "He's not dead! He can't be! No!"

"I'm so sorry, Jasmine," Alice sobbed. "How did I not see this coming? I'm worthless; useless!"

"My baby," Sue sobbed.

Nayeli waddled over to my bed. She pulled herself up onto the mattress and crawled over to me. She was crying, too.

"What happen?" she asked. "Daddy okay?"

I shook my head. "No, Nana, Daddy isn't okay," I said through my tears.

"Oh," she whispered. She put her hands around my neck and rested her head on my chest. I stroked her hair as I continued to cry.

"Jasmine," Carlisle said. "We've discussed it, and we think it would be better if you… if you…"

"If I _what_, Carlisle?" I snapped.

"If you went to therapy," he said. "I made an appointment for you already. Do you think you'll be ready for it tomorrow?"

I shook my head quickly.

"No," I said. "I'm not going to therapy."

"Jasmine, sweetie," Rosalie said. "Therapy could really help you."

"No!" I said. "I don't need help! What are you talking about?! Seth is _not _dead!"

"Hun, that's kind of what we're talking about," Esme said. "You're in denial. You need help to get over this."

"No I don't!" I screamed. "I can feel it in me! He's alive, I know he is!"

"Jasmine, please," Edward said. "Whatever it is you supposedly feel, you're making yourself feel it because you don't want to admit he's gone."

"He's not gone!" I sobbed. "He said he'd never leave me! He hasn't broken his word, I know it! He wouldn't leave us behind!" I clutched my daughter to me for emphasis.

The light inside me was still burning. That was what allowed me to know he was still alive. I knew he was. I could feel it in me.

"Jazzy, please," Renesmee said, looking pleadingly at me with tears in her eyes. "You need to go."

"No I do not!" I said. "I don't need therapy!"

"Jasmine Isabella Cullen," Bella said, her voice breaking on the last word, "Sorry to be so hard on you know, but I will drag you into that therapy room myself if I have to. You're going."

I hadn't known how serious she was about that until the next day.

I'd refused to even get out of bed, so Bella, Alice, and Rosalie had literally pulled me out of the comforts of my bed and stuffed me into the shower. I was too upset to even care that they were in the bathroom while I showered. My husband, my love, had died, and my only remaining family was forcing me into therapy. I had every right to be upset. I hadn't stopped crying for hours.

They dressed me forcefully and pulled me into the car. I rode in the backseat of Alice's Porsche with Bella's arms around me. Alice and Esme rode in the front seats. Once we arrived, Bella did keep her promise and dragged me by my arm into the main office.

"Hello, my niece has an appointment here at twelve," she said to the receptionist.

"Name," the woman said, clearly bored.

"Jasmine Isabella Cullen," Bella stated. I leaned limply against her.

"You can take a seat in the waiting area, Dr. Randall will be with you in a second," she said. Bella put one arm around my shoulders and helped me over to the chairs. I sat in the middle of her and Alice and rested my head against Bella's shoulder as I continued to cry. Screaming could be heard from one of the rooms.

"NO!" a woman was screaming. "EDWARD CULLEN WILL BE MINE! HE WILL! BELLA'S GOT NOTHING AGAINST ME!"

"Ms. Stanley, I need you to calm down," a therapist was saying. The woman kept screaming.

Well. That was… disturbing.

"Oh, God," Bella muttered. "You've got to be kidding me." She turned her head to whisper in my ear. "That's Jessica Stanley. I went to high school with her. She was obsessed with Edward. Looks like she still is." I barely heard—of cared about—what she said. I scarcely cared about anything anymore. Everyone was saying Seth wasn't coming home anymore.

_Baby why'd you leave me? Why'd you have to go? I was counting on forever, now I'll never know. I can't even breathe. It's like I'm looking from a distance, standing in the background, everybody's saying he's not coming home now. This can't be happening to me. This is just a dream._

Why was the song so damn accurate? It was as if it being on the radio had been an omen. But I knew this wasn't a dream. This was real, and he wasn't coming home. Alice, Bella, Esme, everyone was right. Maybe I was crazy, maybe… maybe… No. I knew Seth was alive. He wouldn't leave me; he wouldn't leave Nayeli, or Sue, or Leah.

"Jasmine," a woman called. "Dr. Randall will see you now."

I didn't move. There was no way in hell that I was going to see a shrink. I didn't need help for this. Seth was alive, he was alive, he was alive.

Bella pulled me up from my seat and handed me to the lady. She took hold of my arm and smiled sympathetically at me. I stared at her blankly as she led me down a white, empty hallway and into an equally white room. She sat me down in a chair.

"You can wait here," she said. "The Dr. Randall will be with you in just a second."

I showed no emotion, but stared at the wall in front of me. She sighed and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. I heard a click from the door, and noticed that there was no way to unlock it from the inside. Oh, that was sad. Did she really think I would try to…? Okay, so maybe she was in the right doing that, no matter how much I hated to admit it.

There was another click and the door opened.

"You must be Jasmine," a man in a white doctor coat said as he took a seat across from me. I'd forced myself to stop crying, but I didn't bother to wipe my tears away.

"Hi, I'm Doctor Jack Randall," he continued. "I heard you went through a bit of trauma yesterday. Would you care to tell me what happened?"

I bit my tongue, but—hopefully—showed no emotion on the outside. I turned my head to the window and stared outside, avoiding Jack's careful gaze.

"Your Aunt Bella told me that your husband was declared dead yesterday," he said. "How have you been coping with this newfound information?"

I remained silent and turned my attention to my clasped hands. Jack sighed.

"Jasmine, I can't help you if you don't give me something to work with," he said.

"Who says I want your help?" I asked. "I didn't ask to come here. My family sent me here. I don't need help, and I don't want it, either."

"Okay," he said. "You spoke. That's good."

"Whatever," I muttered.

He stayed silent for a moment, searching for something in his pocket. He pulled out a paper and smoothed it out on his clipboard.

"Did your family by any chance show you the letter?" he asked. I shook my head. He put the paper in front of me.

I scanned the words on the page, no matter how much I didn't want to. The camp Seth and his division were staying at had been the object of a bombing. There were… no survivors.

My body shook, my lips trembled. I bit down on my lip so hard, blood filled my mouth. A single tear ran down my cheeks.

"Okay, progress," Jack said, scribbling something on a paper. "That's good. So, Jasmine, can you tell me now how you're dealing with the death of your husband?"

"He's not dead," I told him. "I know he's not. He… he promised me he wouldn't leave us."

"Of course he did, Jasmine," he said. "Now, can you elaborate on the 'us' part, please?"

"My daughter and I," I said. "He promised he wouldn't leave us. Seth always kept his word. He wouldn't break a promise—not to me."

"So, do you think you'll be able to go on after his death?" he asked me.

"He's not dead," I said.

"Right," Jack said. "He's not. Of course."

"He. Is. Not. Dead," I said through my teeth.

"Okay," he said, stopping the writing he was doing on his paper and pulling off his eyeglasses. His blue eyes immediately became smaller, but he was evidently trying to hide his annoyance.

"Your aunt warned me about this," he muttered, running his fingers through his hair.

"Warned you about what?" I asked. "About my supposed denial? Yeah, I'm in denial. Whatever. Go ahead and write that down, I don't care. All you'll manage to get out of me are lies, anyway."

"Anger is good, anger is good," he said, scribbling more.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said.

He tried asking me more questions, most of which I refused to answer. I tried explaining the bond I had with Seth without saying so much that he would send me to a nut house, but by the end of the session, I knew he must have thought I was insane. I was obviously one of his most difficult patients. I didn't really think anyone had the strength to keep quiet in front of a therapist, with all their mind tricks and crap.

"How'd it go?" Esme asked hopefully when I exited.

"Fine," I muttered. I grabbed my sweater from the chair I'd left it on and started toward the door. Bella and Alice jogged up behind me.

"We can keep up, you know," Alice said. I got to the car and tried jerking open the door, but it was locked. Bella held out the keys and I reached for them, but she pulled back and held them up high—higher than I could reach, what with my shortness and everything.

"You can't do this to yourself, Jasmine," Bella insisted. "Therapists are there to help you, but they can't help you without you helping yourself."

"How would you know I didn't help myself?" I asked through my tears.

"Jasmine, we can hear things, you know," Alice said, her hands on her hips.

"Whatever," I murmured.

Bella opened the car and I dove into my seat. Soon enough, Esme, Alice, and Bella took their own seats before Esme hit the gas and we sped down the highway.

I'd been crying the entire time—sobbing was more like it. "I'm literally crazy," I sobbed. "I'm actually, really crazy."

Bella put her arm around me. "You're not crazy, Jasmine," she said. "You've just been through some rough things these past few days."

"Alice," I said, leaning forward to be able to see her better. "Please, please tell me I don't have to go back there."

Alice sighed. "I'm not going to force you into that office again," she said. "No matter how much I think you need it. I'm not going to spend time bringing you down here if you're not willing to let people help you."

"That's because I don't need help!" I screamed. We were passing the 'Welcome to Forks' sign by then. "Seth is alive! I know he is! The imprint, the feel of the imprint, it's still there!"

"Of course it is, sweetie," Esme said.

"Esme, don't do that," Alice said. "She needs to understand that Seth is… well…"

"No he's not!" I said. "I'm not making this up, Alice! I know he's alive! He has to be!"

Alice sighed and threw an apologetic look at Esme. "Of course he is," she muttered.

"Ugh!" I screamed and threw myself back against the seat. I put my head in my hands and my body shook with sobs until we got home. I stepped out of the car as soon as I could and stormed into the house.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Jasper asked when he saw me. I turned my head the other way and stomped up the steps.

"What happened?" he asked someone—more thank likely Alice. I didn't stay within hearing range long enough to hear a response.

I was about ready to run into my room and throw myself facedown on my bed when I turned my head to Nayeli's room subconsciously. She was standing in her crib—that she was really getting much too big for—and peering out at me. I sighed and changed my direction. My daughter obviously needed me then.

"Hey, Nana," I said, picking her up.

"Momma," she said, lifting her hand and wiping away one of my tears. "You cry?"

"Yes, Nayeli, I cry," I sniffled.

"Oh," she said. "Why?"

I took a large breath. "I'll tell you when you're older, okay, sweetie?"

"O…kay?" It came out as a question. I knew she more than likely hadn't understood me. I sighed and buried my head in her hair.

"Momma, where Daddy?" she asked.

"He's not here anymore, Nana," I said, holding my breath.

"Not… here?" she asked. "Where is he?"

"He's…" I sighed. "In a… better place, I guess."

"But—but Daddy promise," she stuttered.

I sighed yet again. "No one can keep their promises all the time," I said.

She nodded, though the confused look never left her face. Alice suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Aunty Alice!" Nayeli piped, though not as perky as she'd been before.

"Hi, Nana," Alice whispered. She waved at Nayeli who waved back before turning her attention to me.

"Um… the service is next week," she said. "On Tuesday."

I exhaled loudly. "Okay," I said. "I'll be ready. I hope."

"Jasmine, I'm sorry for getting so angry earlier," she said. "I just… This affected me too, you know. I lost a son-in-law. I loved Seth, too."

I nodded. "I know, Alice," I said. "I don't blame you. It's just… I don't need help." I looked into her golden eyes, praying she'd believe me. "I just know he's alive. He has to be. He wouldn't leave me like that."

Alice came forward and hugged me. "I know you feel something in you, Jasmine. I didn't doubt that for a second. What I doubt is that it's actually telling you something. You've inherited my power, I get that, but I don't think that it is truly telling you something this time. I think this is just you telling you what you want to hear."

I said, "Maybe," but I knew I was lying. Alice must have noticed it, too. She sighed, defeated.

I didn't care what Alice or Esme or Bella said. I didn't care if Seth really did… really had… Alright, so I did care, but that wasn't the point. I would keep hoping, keep dreaming, keeping searching, and maybe one day soon a sandy colored wolf would appear through the greenery of the forest. He'd transform into a human and take me in his arms. Maybe, just maybe, it could be Seth. And maybe, just maybe, he'd whisper in my ear the words, "I'm home."

**A/N: One thing; I was just wondering... if someone could do me a huge ass favor and PM me so that I can send you a poem I wrote for class. I need an opinion from someone before I turn it in on Monday. My hugest fear: Having my teacher rip the paper in half and tell me it's terrible like she did to some kid last year o.o So, yeah, if someone could do me that favor, that would be great ;D**

**Reviews are love!**


	26. Chapter 26

_I was sitting at the head of the Cullens' dining room table, silent. The rest of the seats were occupied by the Cullens—minus Renesmee—and the Denali clan. But they seemed different somehow. They were beautiful, yes, but in the human way, not the vampire way. None of them had the gold eyes I'd seen everyday for so long. Jasper, for example, and Rosalie had the bluest eyes I'd ever seen. Alice's eyes matched my own, and Bella's eyes were the chocolate brown Edward had said he'd admired so much when she was human. _

_"Jasmine." Esme said my name slowly, and her voice sounded like a bird's song. It was dreamlike. "There's someone here to see you."_

_All heads turned to the doorway that led from the living room to the dining room. I turned my head the same direction. And there I saw the person I'd wanted to see for so long. Seth entered the room with a sad smile._

_"Seth," I sobbed. "You didn't leave me! I knew you wouldn't leave me!" I flung myself at him, hoping to be caught by his strong, loving arms. Instead, he took a step away from me. My eyes filled to the brim with tears. I took one step toward him with my hand outstretched. He just took another step back. I started crying._

_"Don't cry, my angel," he whispered. "I love you."_

_"If you love me, then why won't you let me near you?" I asked, tears running down my cheeks. _

_He turned toward the people sitting at the table. "Jasmine, honey, do you see them?" he asked. _

_"Yes," I said. Clearly._

_"Who are they?"_

_"They're my family," I said matter-of-factly. "And some family friends." I smiled at Carmen and Eleazar for emphasis._

_"No, sweetie," Kate said. "Not necessarily."_

_"We're the ghosts of your family and friends," Jasper said. "Spirits, souls, if you will."_

_"That's impossible!" I said. "The Cullens aren't dead!"_

_"Oh, my dear, but we are," Tanya said. She had hazel eyes. They weren't far from the gold I'd seen her with, but still a change. "What you see in front of you is the humanity that died within us—or them, depending on how you wish to see it—before it was reborn."_

_"You see, Jasmine," Edward said. "When our human lives ended, our humanity died, but reincarnated, in a sense, into our new bodies. We still have a hold of that humanity, but it's a different humanity."_

_"So, you mean to tell me, that you're the souls of my family?" I clarified, trying not to cry._

_Carmen nodded. "As we specified before, yes."_

_"But then that means…" I turned to Seth. "You really are gone, aren't you?"_

_Seth nodded somberly. "I'm afraid so, Jasmine. Not even death, however, can change the way I feel about you."_

_"But you're not coming back," I whispered. "Your humanity, your soul… it won't be reborn into a new version of yourself like it was with the Cullens."_

_He shook his head. "I'm afraid not," he said. "I may be a wolf, but I'm still human. Humans don't come back as themselves when they die, Jasmine."_

_"Seth," Bella said, "I think that's enough. You're scaring her."_

_"It's time for us to go, anyway," Carmen said. "Jasmine needs to wake up now."_

_"No," I choked. "Please, don't leave me again. You promised."_

_Seth looked away from me and closed his eyes. "Not everyone can keep their promises all the time," he said._

_"I can't even hug you goodbye?" I asked._

_"You can try," he whispered. "But I can't guarantee you'll like what you feel."_

_I was confused by his words until I tried throwing my arms around him. The body that had seemed so warm, inviting, and sturdy to me just a few seconds ago was mere mist that my arms went right through the middle of, causing me to hug myself._

_The bodies, souls, ghosts, whatever you wanted to call them, started to evaporate into thin air. _

_"No!" I screamed with all the force I would manage. "Please, please, no!" _

_"I love you, Jasmine. Don't ever forget me," were the last words I heard before I broke down sobbing on a floor that soon turned to black and left me falling into a pit of despair._

That was the dream I'd had the night before. During my sleep, every word that had been spoken, every action, had made perfect sense. But when I woke, and went over every aspect of it, I found it made no sense. At all. It was another one of those dreams—I'd been having them a lot lately. They'd make sense while I was asleep, but the second I opened my eyes and tried to think it over, I ended up confused with a headache like no other.

I'd woken with sweat covering every inch of my body and a note from Alice saying she left Nayeli in her crib, dressed and ready, and they were leaving without me. She also left the address in case I'd forgotten it—as if I would. I had the damn thing memorized.

It was Tuesday, the day I'd dreading.

The service was today, and as I stood, dressed in black from head to toe, next to the window, I couldn't help but wonder if today was just another day. If I was downstairs making breakfast for those in the family who ate and Seth would sneak up on me like he always did when I was beating the eggs or chopping tomatoes. But I knew that was impossible, because Seth was gone, and this time, he wouldn't be coming back.

The light I'd relied on had been growing dimmer and dimmer as the days went by. Alice, Bella… they were all right. He wasn't here anymore. Nayeli had finally understood the concept of the word "gone" and hadn't stopped crying. I didn't mind holding her—she was the last I had left of him, and I loved her so much. If I had been to lose Nayeli at that point, I would have had nothing left to do but die.

The Cullens, along with the wolf pack and several adults from the reservation, had already left for the service. I was to drive myself and Nayeli later in my car. It would be the first time I actually drove the car, because there was no Seth to tease me about being easily distracted and not fit to drive yet. And just when I thought my body had run out of tears, merciless sobs wrecked my body, and I fell to my knees, wrapping my arms around me.

Would I be able to stand up there and keep myself composed as I'm handed a folded flag? I didn't think I could—but it was the wife who accepted the flag and most of the sympathy, not the mother, the sister, or the in-laws.

I put one hand on the wall to balance myself as I tried to stand.

"Why did you have to leave me?" I sobbed to no one. "You promised you'd stay! You promised!"

I was surprised Nayeli hadn't started calling me by then. She always called my name when she heard me having an emotional breakdown. My surprise was quickly replaced with worry, and I ran over to her room to see her.

I entered her room, and the cold air coated with rain hit me like a wrecking ball. The window was open and Nayeli was no where to be found.

"Oh, dear God," I whispered as I searched desperately for her. I looked under the blankets in the crib, and my hands came across a folded piece of paper. I pulled it out and read its contents quickly.

_Jasmine,_

_So sorry about your husband, dear. Such a shame, don't you think? Oh, and your daughter is simply delightful. I'm sure Aro will find her delectable._

_Sincerely, Jane._

_PS: You might want to work on crying less and watching your daughter more. That is, if you have another one, because I don't think little Nayeli will live much longer._

Every swear word I'd ever heard ran through my head at that moment as I internally cursed the Volturi and myself for this. I should've been paying attention to her. I shouldn't have insisted to Alice the night before that she leave Nayeli with me and that I'd take her myself. I shouldn't have done so many things.

But at that moment I felt there was only one thing I should do, and that I was going to do.

At first I wasn't going to bother enough to close the window, but I didn't want Alice being angry about the carpet being stained more than it already was. I shut the window quickly before starting out to the garage, tears staining my face the entire way. I grabbed the first pair of keys I could get my hands on—which turned out to be those of the Vanquish—and got into the driver's seat. The garage door opened and I sped out, going faster than I'd ever driven in my life. Cullen speed, I imagined. Maybe even faster.

Alice must have seen what I was going to do by then, so I had to do this fast. Sure, the service was out of state, but Alice could do anything if she was determined enough. I stepped on the gas pedal, thanking whatever god it had been that made the downpour so heavy today that no other car was even on the highway. I drove like a maniac to Newton's Olympic Outfitters, and when I finally arrived, I made sure to spend a good few unnecessary minutes out in the rain, so that the person—or people—inside didn't have to think to ask my why I was crying. My tears mixed with the rain, and a quick look in the side mirrors of the car proved that no one would notice.

I walked inside only to be greeted by an overly perky Mrs. Newton and her son, the infamous Mike.

"Pouring outside, isn't it?" she asked. One look at my face and she seemed to instantly know who I was.

"Say, you're that girl that moved in with the Cullens a few years ago, aren't you?" she asked. I nodded.

"Oh, sweetie, are the rumors about your husband true?" she wanted to know.

I decided to play dumb, even though I was fighting back sobs.

"What rumors?" I asked.

"All the townsfolk are saying—you know what? Never mind. It's obvious talk has just gotten out of hand nowadays. Anything in particular you're looking for today?"

"Um… rope," I said. "And some new hiking supplies. My family and I are gonna spend a few days up in the mountains when it get warmer." I added the hiking crap so she wouldn't suspect anything. Her son, though, looked at me a bit weird, like he suspected something.

"Sure, I'll have Mike help you out with that," she said.

"Mike Newton, at your service," he mumbled.

"Show her where the hiking stuff is, Mike," she said.

"Sure thing," he said and started trudging down one of the aisles. He handed me the rope, two backpacks, and some stuff I didn't recognize. I paid for it with a credit card Alice had given me for emergencies before starting my way out to the car again.

"Here, let me help," he said.

"There's only two bags," I said. "I can take it." Was he trying to get in my way? One look in his eyes and I knew yes was the answer. He took the bags from my hands and led me out to the car. I started to take the bags from him, but he held them away from me.

"Hey!" I said. "Give!"

"I know what you're going to do," he said. "And I'm not letting you go through with it."

My tears started up again. I felt my face turn red.

"What do you know?" I sobbed against my will. I snatched the bags from him and threw them into my car. "You don't even know me!"

"But—"

"_Enough_, Mike!" I screamed before getting into the car and slamming the door in his face. As I sped away, I couldn't help but worry that he would call someone—like Bella. I heard they kept in touch—and warn them. But a look in my rearview mirror told me he wasn't telling anyone anything. He looked defeated, and I knew I'd won. I drove with my tears blurring my vision back to the house. I was relieved to see none of the Cullens were there. I stuffed my turned-off cell phone into the glove compartment of the car before stepping out of it and running—soaking wet—back into the house.

I dropped the orange bag in my closet and sat at my desk. I grabbed a paper and pencil.

_I couldn't make it to the service—when you find me you'll know why. I love you guys, the only family I've had in so long, but I've already lost my husband. Losing my daughter has proved to be too much. Please forgive me._

_Love, Jasmine._

My writing was messy and my tears made some of my letters blur. I attached the letter from Jane to it, to prove my point. I would miss my family, but, if I was lucky, I'd make it to Seth and Nayeli, and we could be the family that we never really got a chance to be.

I took the rope from the bag and tossed everything else to the side—I didn't need it, anyway. I just bought it so that Mrs. Newton didn't suspect anything.

I couldn't stop my crying, no matter how much I tried, as I flung one end of the rope over the highest clothing rod in my closet. It was empty, so I didn't have to worry about throwing clothes onto the floor. Alice might want them later—we were the same size.

I fumbled with the rope until I was able to create a noose big enough to fit around my head, then my neck. I pulled a chair over and stood on it. Then, with shaking fingers, I brought the loop over my head.

I heard the garage door open and knew I was running out of time. I was surprised Alice had even bothered with opening the garage if she'd seen what I was to do. But what if she hadn't seen me? What if she had no clue what I was up to and she just came to see why I hadn't arrived at the service yet?

No, she wouldn't have taken the time if she hadn't seen this coming.

I lifted my leg to kick the chair over. As I moved to hit the chair with the bottom of my foot, I knew I needed to say my last words.

"Seth," I whispered. "Seth, I'm coming."

**A/N: I'm not asking for anything, except maybe mercy, like it would be really **_**sweet **_**if no one killed me. **

**Also, I decided that my story was going to be wayyyyyyyyyyy too long, so I'm sorry to say that this is where I am ending Jasmine's story. I hope all my reviewers will continue to read my other stories, though. Sorry bout ending it like this, but this is what had to be done.**

**No, I'm totally kidding. I'm not so much of an idiot to end it here. Reviews are love!**


	27. Chapter 27

I hadn't stopped screaming in who knows how long.

Did hanging yourself really hurt this bad? Since the first second I kicked the chair out from under me, I felt pain. There was a point when something jabbed into my neck—the rope, no doubt—and then I was so unaware of anything other than the pain to notice where it was that the hurt was becoming more potent. My throat was sore as hell, but I continued to scream. 

The pain was indescribably excruciating and nothing could make it stop. Was this what dying felt like? Was the pain so terrible? Alice had always told me that dying hurt—but this dying was different wasn't it? I wasn't being—for lack of a better word—reborn into vampirism, but I was actually dying. I wouldn't return as a beautiful creature with eyes red as rubies that would, if I chose to go down that path, one day turn to gold.

If I was lucky, I'd find myself in Seth's arms again, with Nayeli hugging my leg. Maybe my dream had been trying to tell me something. Maybe I'd find myself face to face with the humanity of the Cullens, the Denalis, and maybe even the Volturi.

I continued to scream. I couldn't lose myself in my thoughts this time. The pain was too great for that.

I heard myself scream words I could scarcely understand and I could vaguely feel myself squeezing the life out of something in my hand. I knew it was warm, really warm.

"MAKE IT STOP!" I heard myself scream. "PLEASE, MAKE IT STOP!"

I could've sworn I heard the most familiar voice in the world whisper, "Don't worry, Jasmine. It'll stop, it'll stop," but the only reason I knew I was hallucinating was because I knew it was impossible to hear over my shrieks. Unless, of course, you had the vampire hearing, but I didn't have that, so there.

"Just a few more minutes," I thought I heard another voice say.

_Stupid head, stop messing with me_, I thought to myself. _Alice isn't even here._

My stupid, overactive imagination hated me.

The pain seemed to get worse as the seconds ticked by. Could I bear it any longer? Could I keep holding on? Or would I just lose myself and die without making it to the other side, to Seth, to Nayeli? No way, I would not let that happen. I had to keep fighting. There was no way I was giving up on this.

My heart felt as if it was ready to jump out of my chest. I could feel it beat faster, and faster, and faster, until it seemed perfectly reasonable for it to explode.

But it wasn't long before everything just… stopped.

My breathing stopped, the pain stopped, my heart stopped. It was like someone pushed the OFF button in me, and everything turned off. I could hear things… lots of things, things on earth. Was it possible that I really _hadn't _made it to the other side and I'd stayed on land as a ghost or something? I didn't think so—that was too much of a horror movie.

Besides, I opened my eyes, and I knew I'd made it. There was no other explanation for the brilliance everything seem to hold. My vision had increased and everything held more color than it used to, more brightness. I saw colors I had no name for, and heard the sounds of things I usually couldn't hear when confined within four walls. There was a burning in my throat that I thought I wouldn't be able to ignore for the world. But there was a face in front of me, and it meant more to me than the world. It was the face I'd taken my life for—the face I feared I'd never see again.

"Seth," I whispered. My voice sounded different—like… wind chimes, or something equally beautiful. I sounded surprisingly like Alice. An effect of death, perhaps? "I made it."

I threw my arms around his neck, sobbing, though no tears came out of my eyes. Plenty of tears were coming out of Seth's eyes, though.

"I made it," I sobbed. "I found you."

"Jasmine, you're hurting him." My head snapped up quicker than I thought possible, and I saw Alice and the rest of the Cullens. So, my dream had been trying to tell me something. These were obviously the souls of the family I left behind. But, something was different. Their eyes were still the same warm gold I remembered.

But I didn't care. I'd made it, and in Rosalie's arms was Nayeli, bouncing just as happily as she had when we'd been alive.

"Nana," I said. Within less that half a second, I was in front of her, reaching out. Rosalie pulled her away from me. I growled.

Wait. _Growled_? I couldn't growl—not like this. I was growling like a vampire. What the hell?

"Rose, get Nayeli out of here," Seth said. I spun around and stared into his eyes. He smiled sadly at me.

"Oh, God," I whispered, taking slow steps toward him. "I really made it."

He put his arms around my waist, and I hugged him, trying not to hurt him like Alice said I could. I didn't understand what she'd meant by that, but I didn't care. I had my family with me, wherever I was.

"Jasmine, you're not dead," I heard Edward say. "Not the dead you think you are."

I tried to ignore him, but he kept talking.

"Alice found you before your heart stopped beating completely."

"What are you talking about?" I asked him. "Of course I'm dead. There's not other explanation."

"Damn it, Jasmine, look!" Rosalie screamed. I realized she hadn't taken Alice's order and taken Nayeli from the room. She was still holding her, but she was standing next to a mirror. I turned and stared at my reflection.

Oh. My. God.

"You bit me," I said. "You actually bit me."

My skin was white, a huge contrast to my ruby red eyes. My brown hair seemed more voluminous than it had before, and I was excruciatingly, devastatingly, inhumanly gorgeous. If my hair had been shorter, I really could've been Alice's twin.

"I had to," Alice whispered. "I couldn't let you leave. Especially not when I ran into Jane and Nayeli on my way back home."

"Jane," I snarled. "That stupid witch. She took my daughter!"

Alice nodded soberly. "She did—and by her own will, no doubt. Aro's taken care of her by now, no doubt. He sends his regards, by the way."

"Oh, honey, we're just so glad you're alright," Esme sighed. "We were so afraid when Alice told us the vision."

"Thank goodness she made it in time," Carlisle agreed.

I wanted so badly to cry and let out all the emotion I was feeling, since there was so much of it, but now that I knew what I was, I knew it wouldn't be possible. All I could manage was falling to my knees and dry sobbing. Seth crouched down next to me, putting his arms around me.

"I love you," he whispered in my ear. "I'm home."

I rested my head on his chest and inhaled his familiar scent, unable to hold back a cough.

"What?" he chuckled.

"You smell like dog," I said, wrinkling my nose. Not appetizing, at all.

"Momma?" Nayeli's familiar voice asked. She waddled over to me, and I saw Rosalie trying to stop her.

"No," Alice said. "Let her. Werewolf obviously isn't too appetizing to Jasmine, anyway."

"But—" Rosalie started to argue, but Alice shook her head.

"Momma, who that?" she asked me, pointing at Seth.

I laughed a real laugh—something I hadn't done in a while. And even though it was a different laugh than what I'd heard all my life, it was still my laugh, and I was so thankful I could finally enjoy it again. I was much too happy to be disgusted by the werewolf smell that filled the air, even though it was extremely unpleasant. I knew that, despite the ugly smell, I should still want to feel the blood in my mouth, but I didn't. Not really, anyway. I'd gone through too much to get my family back that I was so not going to end their lives, no matter how much I kind of wanted to… The blood smelled so sweet…

Focus, Jasmine, answer Nayeli's question. I forced the pain in my throat to the back of my mind and smiled. "That's your daddy, Nana."

Nayeli smiled widely. "Daddy!" She threw herself at Seth and he caught her in his arms, stroking her hair.

"So beautiful," Seth whispered. "She has your mother's eyes, Jasmine."

"And she has her daddy's good looks," I added.

"No, I think she got that from her mom." Seth smiled.

I touched Nayeli's head and immediately her skin seemed to burn my hand. It felt nice, but she flinched away.

"Momma, why your hand so cold?" she asked.

"I'll tell you when you're older," I said. She nodded—she'd been hearing that a lot lately.

And then it hit me. If I wasn't dead, then how was Seth here? Not that I was complaining, of course.

"Seth, should you tell her, or should I?" Edward asked.

"I'll tell her," Seth said, once he understood. "When I was in my tent, I smelled the bomb, and heard it, too. I knew I had to get out of there, so I went wolf. When I went back the next morning to see how things turned out, I saw that the bomb had been enough to turn all the men to ashes. I ran as fast as I could to get here. I guess I didn't run fast enough."

"Seth, but what if they find you?" I asked, sobs creeping up on me again. "They'll take you back to Switzerland, won't they?"

He ran his fingers through my hair. "My dear Jasmine," he whispered. "The war is over. I'm safe."

I smiled at him in relief. _Damn, my stupid throat. Burns so bad…_

"Jasmine, would you by any chance like to go hunt?" Edward chuckled.

I smiled sarcastically. "Yes, Edward, I'd like that."

"Alice skimmed the future, by the way," Emmett said. "So no worries bout any humans in the forest."

I turned to Seth. "Coming with me?"

Seth bit his lip and shook his head. "Sorry, angel. Can't do that."

I tried hard not to pout, but my bottom lip stuck out anyway.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Jasmine, Seth coming with you may not be the safest idea," Esme explained. "When we hunt, we give over to our senses. And, even though Seth may not smell too appetizing now, we're afraid that might change if he's around you when you… lose control."

"Oh," I said. "I get it."

"Alright, Jasmine, we better go," Alice said. "Before your thirst gets any worse."

"Carlisle, if you don't mind, could you stay here? There's something I need to discuss with you," Seth said.

"Of course, Seth," Carlisle answered. "I was going to stay behind with Esme anyway."

"Thank you," Seth said. I turned to face him, deciding not to ask any questions. He pressed his warm, soft lips to mine, and I couldn't help but moan against his mouth.

"I missed that so much," I whispered when he pulled away. He cupped my face in his hand, stroking my cheek with his thumb.

"So did I," he sighed. "You better go."

"Fine," I said, reluctantly turning on my heels. "See you later, then, I guess."

I followed Alice, Jasper—who had been extremely quiet the entire time—Rosalie, Emmett, Bella, and Edward out of the room. Bella was on her cell phone.

"Hey, Sue, you and Leah can come on down now.

"Yeah, bring Renesmee, too.

"She just woke up.

"Okay, I'll tell her. Bye, Sue."

Bella smiled sheepishly at me. "Sorry. We thought it would be safer for them to not be here."

I nodded and smiled understandingly at her. "I get it."

"Alright, Jasmine, we can do this two ways," Alice said. "We can walk out the back door like normal people, or we can exercise your vampire abilities and jump out the second floor."

"Jumping sounds fun!" I decided. There was nothing to be scared of, anyway. I was a vampire now. Jumping out a window wouldn't hurt me. Nayeli and Seth followed us, and stood back when Alice opened a window.

"Can I go first?" I asked.

"Sure," Emmett said. "I could use a laugh."

Alice had been staring off into space, or, in her case, the future.

"Prepare to laugh at yourself, Emmett," she muttered.

I jumped up onto the window sill and closed my eyes. No, I didn't know what I was about to do, but I decided to try and make it as fancy as I had an idea to.

I threw myself forward and flipped, landing perfectly on my feet without stumbling or so much as a _thump_.

"Wow," I heard Emmett gasp, even though he would've been barely audible to my human ears. I loved my improved vision, and my sparkling skin was practically blinding to my eyes. I'd seen Alice and Jasper sparkle before, but I'd seen it with human eyes—which, now that I had this enhanced vision, I knew were extremely weak—and seeing it with these new eyes made the experience so much more exhilarating.

Soon, the others had joined me, and I was actually able to see every move they made instead of just a blur. I looked up at Seth and Nayeli to wave goodbye.

"I wanna jump!" Nayeli squealed. She took a leap in the air, but was caught by Seth. If my heart had still been beating, it might've skipped a beat.

"Let's go," Rosalie urged. "We don't have all day."

We jumped the river—and it was so much more fun than it looked—and I let my senses lead me to the animals. I didn't smell a single human, and I was mildly repulsed by myself for wishing otherwise.

Alice had to help me with my first catch—a mountain lion. She showed me how to press down on his head with just the right amount of pressure to basically sedate it so that it wouldn't thrash and—sigh. Of course—ruin my clothes.

I was a bit wary when it came to sinking my teeth into its neck. Alice had to practically guide my mouth and clamp down my jaw, but from there, I did the rest.

The blood exploded in my mouth and I kept my mouth pressed to the lion's neck until every ounce of blood was out.

The bear we found next I took down on my own. Everyone was surprised of how neat I kept myself. Even Emmett's bear was ripped a little more than necessary.

"You're a natural," Edward complimented. "Carlisle himself couldn't have done better."

I smiled. I felt a lot more confident in this new skin—though that might just have been the invulnerability giving me mental posture.

"Hello?" I heard a voice call. "Hello?"

I knew that voice—I'd heard it three days before. It was the voice that had tried to stop me from hanging myself.

Mike.

Soft, breakable, blood-filled, human Mike.

I snarled, and all the gold-eyed vampires around me took a few steps back. I crouched before starting to run absentmindedly toward the scent of blood; human blood.

"He—Jasmine?" He obviously recognized me. "Wow. You look… different, than when I saw you the other day." He looked into my red eyes and cursed.

I didn't give him time to react any more. I lunged at him, right for his throat. As I sunk my teeth into his neck, his screams filled the woods.

And there it was. The image that filled my mind that made me drop him to the floor, more than halfway drained.

I saw Mike's entire life flash before my eyes. It was a vision, but not one of the future. It was one of the past. I saw his time in school, when he first met Jessica, when the Cullens first moved to Forks and enrolled in school from "Alaska," I even saw Bella, and when she first started Forks High. I saw him marry Jessica, then get divorced when she became even more obsessed with making Edward hers—still disturbing—and getting custody of one of their kids. Bella came to crouch down beside me.

"Oh, Mike," she sighed, pressed her fingers to his neck. "He still has a slight pulse. May as well end his suffering now. Don't want him to wake up as one of us."

"Oh, God, Bells, I'm so sorry," I whispered.

She put one arm around me, and I felt several other arms join hers. "Don't worry, Jasmine, we don't blame you," Rosalie said. "You're a newborn. It was only expected."

"Jasmine, he only has seconds before he starts the transformation," Jasper said. "Drink his blood."

"But—"

"Do it!"

I sighed and bent my head to drink from him. I had to admit, the taste of human blood was much more delicious than animal blood, but I definitely wasn't going to stick to that diet. I wanted my gold eyes—I didn't want to be a monster.

I finished him off, and Bella dragged his body away. I really didn't want to see what she was going to do to it. Edward went with her, and so did Alice. Rosalie and Emmet went to continue their hunt, which left me alone with Jasper.

"Jazz, can I talk to you for a sec?" I asked.

"Sure," he sighed. "What's up?"

"You're upset," I said. "Why?"

"Why don't we answer this using your power?" he suggested. He took my hand and I saw his past—too much of it. I cringed.

"Try to fast forward," he said. "Don't stay on my _past _past for too long. Go back to just three days before today."

I did as he told, and saw what he meant. He came home with Alice, and I saw him fall to his knees when he saw my almost lifeless body hanging from the rope. His body shook with sobs as Alice—equally sobbing—bit my neck, my wrist, my ankles. He closed the wounds.

I pulled my hand away.

"Jasmine, you tried to kill yourself," he said. "And we weren't there to stop you."

"But you did stop me," I said. "If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't be here to see my family all back together."

He took down two nearby bears and we drank in silence until we finished them.

"You could've died," he whispered. "I could've lost my only daughter."

"But you didn't," I said. "Isn't that all that matters? I'm alive and stronger than ever, and we're all together again. Jazz, everything happens for a reason. It was bound to happen someday anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"I saw it in your past—the conversation you had with Alice on Christmas that had been too fast for me to understand. She said she saw me as a vampire anyway. It would've happened, one way or another."

He sighed and stared at apparently nothing. "You're more or less alive," he said. "We're a family. I guess that is all that matters."

"Jasmine, Jasper!" we heard Alice call. "It's getting late! Let's get back to the house!"

We stood from our seat on the grass.

"Race ya," I said. He chuckled.

"Fine," he said. "On your marks…"

"Get set…"

"Go!"

And we were off, running back to our returned happiness.


	28. Chapter 28

When we got back to the house, Seth and Carlisle were talking on the couch in hushed tones. Or, they would be hushed tones if it wasn't for my totally awesome super hearing.

"…are you sure, Seth?"

"Positive, Carlisle. This isn't something I can fake."

"Has anyone else in the pack ever…?" His voice trailed off.

"Never. There's Jake, but no one's imprinted on—"

"What are we talking about here?" I asked abruptly, my confidence peaked. I sat down next to Seth and looked expectantly at him.

"Pale skin suits you nicely," he said, stroking my cheek. His touch set fire to my skin. "And look, I can see some gold in your eyes already."

I smiled. "Thanks. But don't try to change the subject. What's this about imprinting?"

Carlisle sighed. "Seth thinks the imprint might have been broken."

_Kill me. _"What?"

"The imprint seems to have broken between the two of you," Carlisle said, motioning between the two of us. "Jasmine, do you still feel it?"

I searched deep inside me and realized that I didn't. Through all the excitement—if you could call it that—of my transformation, I hadn't realized that the bond of the imprint wasn't there. I still loved Seth more than I could possibly say, but the current that bound us to one another wasn't there.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I don't. Is there a reason?"

"Carlisle has a theory," Seth prodded.

"The imprint between a shape-shifter and a human is made when the wolf, having been Seth, in this case, sees the eyes of the human who is their other half," Carlisle said. "But, some further research on the matter has revealed that wolves imprint on those most likely to pass on the wolf gene. Since you are a vampire now, Jasmine, that ability is far beyond—or, technically—behind you."

"So… the imprint broke because I can't have kids?" I asked, completely taken aback. I would not have been able to see that coming for the life of me.

Carlisle nodded. "That's what I'm guessing."

I turned to Seth, on the verge of being heartbroken. "So, you… don't… love me anymore?"

"No, no, no!" he assured me, immediately taking me in his arms. "I love you, of course I do! The… broken bond hasn't changed that much."

Leah came trotting down the stairs, a smirk on her face. "I told you so!" she sang.

"You told me what?" I asked.

"I told you he would've picked you anyway." Her smirk widened to a full blown smile.

"Wow, I was not expecting to see my little-sister-in-law," she said, taking me in with wide eyes. "Pale skin, red eyes, almost more gorgeous than me. Yup, Jasmine, you're definitely a bloodsucker now."

"Thank you?" I laughed.

"Where's Nayeli?" I asked a few bad jokes later.

"Momma!" my daughter's voice squealed in answer. She hopped over to me and threw herself onto my lap. Soon enough, she started shivering.

"Momma, you so cold," she said, her teeth chattering as she tried to warm herself by rubbing her hands against her arms. I put her on Seth's lap and she curled into him for his body heat. Even then, she still reached out to take my hand. I smiled, but that smile quickly faded when she looked into my eyes and let out a small yelp.

"Red eyes," she gasped. "Why?"

I sighed. "Nana, I'll tell you—"

"When you old-ah. Nayeli knows," she muttered.

I cupped her warm, breakable face in my hand, and feeling the pulse beating under my palm was enough to make venom pool in my mouth. My vision miraculously tinted red. I leaned forward subconsciously.

I lunged a second too late—or before it was too late, depending on how you looked at it. Alice grabbed me from behind and Rosalie took Nayeli and zipped up the stairs. My eyes refocused on Seth.

I felt myself fighting against the monster inside me. One side of me wanted to feel that blood running down my throat again, but the other side was completely disgusted with me. But no matter how hard I tried, my eyes never left Seth's throat.

Alice pulled me back and I could tell it took every ounce of strength in her to slam me against the back wall.

"Jasmine! Oh, God, damn it, Jasmine!" she cried as I leaped over her shoulder.

"Seth, get out of here," Jasper growled, standing in front of him. I snarled at him, crouching. He did the same. All the while, I fought an inner battle against the monster controlling me. My humanity was losing.

"Jasmine, angel," he whispered. One hand reached out to me, and while part of me wanted to just take his hand and sob my apologies, the other part made me snap at it.

"Seth, get the hell away!" Alice screamed. She had her tiny arms around my waist while the rest of the Cullens started helping. Carlisle and Emmett helped her in restraining me. Leah was in wolf form, snapping at me. I snapped right back at her. She didn't seem phased, but I didn't need Edward's power to know what was going on in her head. It was probably something along the lines of, _Shit, man, what's happening to Jasmine?_

I felt guiltier than I'd ever had in my life. What I felt when I was leaving to Volterra, when I almost got myself killed… that was nothing compared to this. But, then again, getting stabbed was a prick on the finger when compared to the burning ache in the back of my throat. I hated being the danger, and I was metaphorically sweating as I continued to fight it.

Without thinking about it, I chomped down on Emmett's hand.

He cursed in a language I didn't understand, but regained his composure soon enough.

"Jasmine, please," Seth pleaded. He was fighting, too, but fighting against his fear. He didn't want to be afraid of me, and I didn't want him to be afraid of me. "You don't want to hurt me."

He was right, I didn't. That was the last thing I wanted. I loved him; I wouldn't kill him. But, as I continued to fight against my own family to get to him, I was sure no one would believe that.

He reached out again, but Edward knocked his hand out of the way. Seth sighed, and reached out again.

I reached out, too. I touched his hand, and suddenly, I wasn't seeing the scene in front of me anymore.

I saw his past, just like I'd seen Mike's and Jasper's few hours before. There were his years before I came to Forks; getting teased by the pack for not having imprinted, seeing Leah get her heart broken by Sam, becoming part of Jacob's pack, Renesmee's birth… God, that'd been bloody. Then there were all those memories from the time I came into his life, and I wasn't sure if that was just me, but they seemed to be more brilliant than the others.

My red-tinted vision dispersed and so did Seth's past. I fell to my knees and stopped struggling. Esme came to my side with a cup filled with red liquid. She guided the straw to my mouth and I slurped down the drink. Animal blood; just what I needed. I held my breath, and found it to be so much easier than I thought it would be.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" I yelled, shaking. "I—I don't know what came over me! It's just—it's just—"

"The blood," Alice said. "We know. We get it. We don't blame you."

"Oh, God," I gasped, turned my face to Seth. "I—I could've killed you! I could've… oh, God.

"But you didn't," Seth said. "You held yourself together better than most newborns."

I turned to Bella and placed one hand on hers. Aside from me, she was the most recent to be turned. The memories of her first few months as a vampire would be the most potent, or so I hoped.

I was right. Her outright strength during those months shone through her memories. I suppressed a sigh—she didn't even come close to attacking her father. She ran away from humans instead of killing them. I pulled my hand away.

"Bella, teach me how to be strong," I pleaded.

Bella bit her lip. "Jasmine, I can't teach you how to go against your newborn nature," she said. "I was lucky because I was mentally prepared for being turned."

"You can't try?" I asked. "Please. I don't want to be…"

"A monster," each of the Cullens completed for me.

"Jasmine, I told you," Alice said. "We get it. We were all there. Even Bella with her utter self-control fought against it. You have to understand that you're not alone there."

I shook my head in an attempt to clear my mind. "I know," I breathed. "I just—it's hard, you know? I didn't expect to get so lost in myself." Esme passed me another cup of animal blood—my forth.

"How long will it last?" I asked between gulps.

"Forever," Jasper said with a light smirk. "The burn will always be there—and so will the fight. But we've found that when your eyes turn from red to gold, it gets easier."

"And how long will that take?" I asked warily.

"Well, at the rate you're downing that animal blood, I'm guessing about one—maybe two days," Emmett teased.

I turned to Carlisle for a more informed answer.

"I think Emmett may be on to something, actually," he confessed. "If you continue to drink as much of the blood as you do, the gold may appear earlier than normal. If you'd look at yourself in a mirror, you'd be able to see a few flecks of gold."

I nodded. "Am I allowed to go upstairs?" I asked.

"Why wouldn't you be?" Edward chuckled.

I smiled. "Right." It was dark out, but I obviously wasn't going to be sleeping.

I stood up and absentmindedly brushed dust off my clothing.

"Would saying 'goodnight' be appropriate?" I joked.

Esme laughed. "Yes, I suppose that would be somewhat accurate, since we may not see you till morning."

"Oh. Goodnight, then," I said. I gave Seth a smile and peck on the cheek. I turned on my heel and timed how long it took me to get to my room. Two and a half milliseconds—nice.

I walked into the darkness of my room, not bothering to turn on the light since it wouldn't really make a difference. I wandered into my closet and pulled the rope down from the ceiling. Without thinking about it, I opened the window and tossed it out, knowing it would soon be lost in the night. I closed the window again and stared out at the stars absentmindedly.

Soon, I heard sneaky footsteps outside my room.

"You can't scare me anymore," I laughed without turning around. Seth walked defeated into my room and snaked his arms around my waist, pulling me against him and laying his head on my shoulder. I closed my eyes with a smile creeping over my lips. I reached up and curled my fingers around the seashell that still rested in the crook of my neck.

"I'm not safe, you know," I warned him. I didn't want him to see me with my red eyes, so with my eyes still closed, I reached up and stroked his cheek with my finger. I turned my face toward his.

"A wrong twitch of my fingers," I said, "and I could kill you."

"I know you can," he said. "But, then again, I know you won't."

"Hm," I sighed. "You're right. I love you too much." We stood in complete silence for a moment, just listening to the outside wind whip against my window.

"But I'm still dangerous," I reminded him.

He chuckled. "Are you trying to seduce me?"

"No," I said with a slight shake of my head. "Simply stating a fact. Why—are you seduced?"

He turned my head toward him and pressed his lips to mine, running one hand through my hair. I mentally stabbed the burning in my throat.

"Would you like to know?" he laughed softly.

I kissed him again and smiled. "Surprise me."

Keeping my eyes down on the ground—and feeling a huge sense of déjà vu in doing so—I went to sit on the bed. Seth followed and sat next to me. He grabbed my chin and turned my face toward him.

"Jasmine, look at me," he said.

I stayed silent.

"Jasmine, please," he said. "Look at me."

I scooted away from him and kept my eyes on my hands, suddenly extremely self conscious. I had to be careful. I couldn't let my guards down like that. I'd almost killed him…

Oh, God, I'd almost killed him.

I'd all but forgotten. I couldn't keep doing this. I had to strengthen myself before I could do things like this with Seth again. I didn't want him looking into my red eyes. I wasn't the girl he'd proposed to, gone to college with, married, and had a child with. I wasn't her anymore—and I knew it would be a while before I was her again. I rubbed my arms with my hands, even though I obviously wasn't cold.

"Jasmine," he sighed. "Look at me."

Reluctantly, I opened my eyes and looked up at him, suddenly wishing I could cry. It was going to be very difficult not being able to let out my emotions in tears.

"Don't be ashamed," he said, tracing my eyes. "I love you and—"

"No, Seth, that's just it." I shook my head and pulled out of his gaze. "I'm not the girl you fell in love with all those years ago."

"Jasmine, don't be silly," he said. "I fell in love with you, and I love you still, and—"

"Seth, look at me!" I screamed, standing abruptly. He stared at me for a second before blinking several times.

"Do I look like the girl you fell in love with?" I demanded.

From the look on his face, I knew the red eyes, pale skin, wind chime voice, and inhuman beauty was finally sinking in.

He stood up, and tried to walk toward me. "You're still my Jasmine." He reached out for me, but I stepped away.

"Give me some time," I said. "Give me enough time to find myself again. Then—then you can tell me I'm the girl. I won't look like my old self, but I'll have enough of me so that it'll be as if I just had an Alice makeover." I was sounding a bit hysterical, but I was trying to make a point.

"Jasmine. Jasmine, no," Seth said. I didn't fight him when he took me in his arms. I couldn't stop the sob that found its way out of my throat, and I could've sworn I felt the familiar rush of tears down my cheeks, but when I lifted my hand to wipe them away, I felt nothing. It had just been my mind playing tricks on me… again.

"No, Seth, no." I shook my head. "Listen to me; the imprint is broken. It won't kill either of us to be apart for any amount of time. Jasper said that the gold eyes mean we've gotten in control of ourselves. You could—you could try and find someone who will love you without worrying that they might kill you. You could—"

He pressed his lips to mine with such intense passion that I couldn't help but kiss him back. Our relationship was never really based on—man, I hated even thinking the word—sex, but we still had our moments. I felt my back press against the bed and Seth's warm weight settle over me.

I broke the kiss and gasped for the breath I didn't need. I rested my hands on his chest.

"So you still think I'm cute, even when I don't… look like myself?" I asked. "You really still love me?"

"Of course I love you," he breathed. "I'll always love you. And I think you're beautiful."

I smiled despite myself and brought his lips back to mine.

"Momma? Daddy?"

At the sound of the cute little voice, I instinctively pulled myself out from under Seth and we both straightened. Rosalie was holding Nayeli in the doorway. Rose smirked.

"Looks like someone's having trouble with her self-control," she commented.

"I haven't killed anyone else," I muttered.

Rose's smirk turned to a large smile. "Not what I was talking about."

Thank the heavens I couldn't blush anymore. My face would've been as red as a tomato.

Rosalie put Nayeli on the floor. Nana walked over to us.

"I'll leave the three of you alone," Rose said. She left, closing the door behind her. Nayeli sat herself on Seth's lap.

"Daddy," she said, looking up at him. "Is Momma all better?"

Seth smiled. "Yes, Nana, Mom's all better."

Nayeli smiled, too. "Yay!" She climbed over to me and gave me a big hug.

"No more tears, Momma?" she asked.

I laughed. "No, Nayeli," I said. I looked from Seth's smiling face to Nayeli's. "No more tears."

**A/N: Hope everyone liked the chapter. Just wanna tell you that the next chapter will be an epilogue (and I promise it'll be far less crappy then the one I wrote for Jasmine Isabella Cullen) then an author's note. **

**Reviews are love! ^_^**


	29. Epilogue

"Dinner's ready!" I called. In mere seconds, Seth came running into the kitchen with three year old Nayeli on his back. She was squealing with excitement.

After the whole incident with Mike, we'd decided it was time to move on. The family moved to Mobile, Alabama and we had a house a ways off from town. We kept the house in Forks for something like a getaway since we'd had so many memories there; it was hard to let it go. Esme had built smaller cottages in the area around the bigger house; one for each of the couples. Seth, Nayeli, and I were in ours.

Seth sat Nayeli in her chair and took his own seat. I served them their food, then sat down across from Seth with a cup of "cranberry juice" in my hands. I hadn't been able to get away from the house in a while, so I'd been drinking animal blood from the small refrigerator Carlisle had provided. I hadn't killed another human since the Mike incident, and I really hadn't wanted to. My gold eyes were my best feature, and I was immensely proud of them.

"Momma, how come you never really eat?" Nayeli asked me. For a child her age, Nayeli was extremely bright. Edward had already taught her to play the piano and she was using words kids her age have normally never even heard. She was an avid reader, too, and coincidentally was into books about vampires and werewolves. Her favorites were the _Night World _books.

I froze at her question, and so did Seth. We stared at her. She'd never asked this before.

"And how come daddy's always going somewhere with Uncle Jacob at night?" she prodded. "And how come Aunty Alice never eats either? And neither does Uncle Jasper, Aunty Rose, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Emmett, Aunty—"

"That's enough, sweetie," I said, interrupting her. She looked at me questioningly. "Keep eating. I need to talk with your father."

Seth and I stood up and went into our bedroom. I closed the door and took a deep breath.

"She's on to us," I muttered. "I told you—sooner or later she was going to catch on."

"Well… eat some human food," Seth suggested. "You can cough it back up later."

"That'll be of no help," I said. "The next time she sees you sneak out to go inspect the perimeter with Jake, she'll just get more curious. How long is it going to be before she catches you shifting, or me taking down a mountain lion?" The good thing about the imprint having been broken was that we could argue like a real married couple now, instead of it being the _Jasmine's Always Right _show.

Seth sighed and I bit my lip.

"Don't you think that maybe it's time to tell her?" I asked cautiously.

"Tell her?" Seth asked, bemused. "Jasmine, she's three years old! How do you think she'll react when she finds out her mom's a—"

"Vampire," I completed for him.

"And her dad's a—"

"Werewolf."

Seth pursed his lips. "You're not helping."

"Well we can't just keep this from her forever," I said. "What's she going to think when one day she sprouts fur and a tail?"

"Jasmine, you know as well as I do that she may not even be a wolf," Seth said. "She's not showing many of the signs. I mean, at her age, everyone in the pack was the size of ten year olds. Nayeli… she's… well…"

"Short. Yeah, I know. But don't you think there's the slightest possibility she got that from me? Seriously, I am physically twenty-four years old and still five-foot-three. I have met eleven year olds taller than me."

Seth smiled. "I hadn't exactly taken that into account. But don't worry—shortness suits you." He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me. I kissed him back until my senses returned. I hit his arm as lightly as my vampire strength would allow.

"Not the time," I chastised half heartedly. "What are we going to do about Nayeli?"

He sighed. "I think you're right. We should tell her."

I blew a strand of hair out of my face. "Let's get this over with."

When we went back out to the kitchen, we saw Nayeli standing on her stool, washing her plate. Immediately, I walked over and turned off the water before lifting her down from the stool.

"You can leave that there, Nana," I said. "Your father and I want to take you for a walk. Would you like that?"

She smiled and nodded. With one of her small hands in my own and her other in Seth's, we led her out the back door.

If you walked far enough through the woods, you came to the only park in town. It was a lot easier than driving there, and it gave Seth and me a lot more time to mentally prepare ourselves for what we were about to do.

When we finally reached the park, we sat at the first bench we saw. The park was nearly empty, so there were no worries about anyone overhearing. I placed Nayeli on Seth's lap and scooted as close to him as I could.

"What did ya wanna talk about, Momma?" she asked.

I looked at Seth and he smiled in encouragement. I took a deep breath.

"Nayeli," I started. "Nayeli, do you believe in vampires?"

**A/N: And so comes the end of part two. Hope the epilogue was satisfying enough for everyone. Just wanna let you guys know that it'll be a while before I post the next story. If only there was some way for all my amazing readers to be ALERTed when me—the AUTHOR—adds the story. (-cough-Author Alert-cough-) ;D In the mean time, while you're waiting for the third (and final) installment of this story, maybe ya wanna read&review some of my other stories ;) Haha. **

**Anyways, just wanna let you know that Angel in a Blender would not have been possible without the loving support of all my fans. You guys totally kick ass, man, seriously. I love you guys x)**

**Thanks for reading. -April**


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